Unlike offshore oil and gas projects, where State and local govt are usually of one mind (pro or con), States and localities have disagreed sharply about offshore wind. This is particularly true in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, where the State governments are wind advocates despite strong local opposition.
As a result of litigation filed by local entities, and with the acceptance of the Courts, the US Dept. of the Interior is reconsidering Construction & Operations Plan (COP) approvals for the SouthCoast Wind project offshore Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the Atlantic Shores project offshore New Jersey, and US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind (“MarWin”) project. These COPs were approved at the end of the previous Administration. Most notably, the SouthCoast Wind COP was approved on 1/17/2025, just three days before the inauguration.
With regard to the US Wind MarWin project, there is a new twist in that the Delaware Environmental Appeals Board unanimously agreed to hear challenges to the State’s CZMA consistency decisions. The complete appeal file is attached.
The criticism of US Wind’s failure to address the risks of turbine blade failures and emergency response plans (p. 10) is warranted given the unacceptably high rate of such failures, the 2024 Vineyard Wind failure (still no investigation report!), and last month’s troubling blade failure at the He Dreiht wind farm offshore Germany (photo below).
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 