Daily Archives: May 4, 2021

More than 60 commercial fishermen and their supporters testified Tuesday in favor of a bill that would block any attempt to develop offshore wind projects anywhere along the Maine coast.

The bill would prohibit any state agency from permitting or approving any offshore wind energy project regardless of its location. It was introduced by Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, a commercial fisherman, and co-sponsored by eight other Republican lawmakers.

The testimony on L.D. 101 from lobstermen, their families and town officials from fishing communities drew a clear line in the sand: Any offshore wind development, they told told lawmakers on the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, would threaten the very survival of their iconic industry and way of life.

In his testimony, Faulkingham said offshore wind was the worst kind of green energy, and went on to list examples that, in some instances, conflated fact and opinion. He said offshore wind was three-to-five times more expensive than market prices, which may have been a reference to a single state-approved contract for the power from a demonstration project off Monhegan. He said offshore wind farms would cover 850 square miles, four times larger than Casco Bay, an apparent reference to a megawatt target set by an ocean energy task force in 2009.

He said offshore wind would enrich foreign corporations with taxpayer money, without noting that the private partnership behind the Monhegan project is investing $100 million on top of $47 million in federal grants. And he called nuclear power and Canadian hydro better options, ignoring the steep opposition and multibillion cost overruns associated with nuclear power and the ongoing fight over building a transmission line through western Maine from Quebec.

It is time to put a permanent halt to offshore wind development, Faulkingham said, calling it a science project.

Asked by a fellow lawmaker if his opposition was a case of not-in-my-backyard, Faulkingham said no.

The massive scale of the turbine platforms, he said, dwarfs land-based solar projects that can be taken down when their useful life is over. With offshore wind, he said, developers willleave these pieces of garbage in the ocean.

Jeffrey Alley, a fifth-generation fishermen from Jonesport who said he grew up on a lobster boat, said the inevitable disruption or prohibition of fishing activity near wind projects would be devastating.

I want to protect my familys fishing heritage and ensure the future of our fishery for generations to come, he said in a written statement.

This sort of testimony overshadowed the comparatively few comments relating to a bill introduced by Gov. Janet Mills and sponsored by Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York.

That proposed law, L.D. 1619, would establish a 10-year ban on wind energy development in state waters, which extend 3 miles from the mainland. The bill was meant to appease the states lobster industry, which harvests an estimated three-quarters of its catch in state waters.

But Mills proposal, first launched last winter, sank fast and deep with lobstermen. Except for a demonstration project for a single floating turbine expected to be built next year near Monhegan Island, Maines near-shore waters arent a prime target for wind development, although one developer was reportedly exploring a venture last winter. The offshore wind industry here is expected to take shape in deeper, federally controlled waters, where the Mills administration wants to locate a relatively small wind farm dedicated to research.

Mills near-shore pause won support from clean-energy interests as a balanced approach to offshore wind. But fishermen oppose that plan, as well. They say it will threaten an estimated 1,000 lobstermen who make their living in federal waters. The bill doesnt address those concerns.

But despite Tuesdays emotional support for an all-out ban, L.D. 101 faces a steep challenge in its current form. The Legislature is controlled by Democrats. A sweeping offshore wind ban would scuttle one of Mills signature policy initiatives fighting climate change through the carbon-cutting goals set out in the states Climate Action Plan.

A blanket prohibition also would be ineffective, said Chris Wissemann, chief executive of the $147 million joint venture project off Monhegan, New England Aqua Ventus, because the vast majority of wind leases are in federal waters. Instead, he said, the ban would send a message that Maine is closed for business for offshore energy investment.

But what L.D. 101 would stop is economic development, Wissemann said, hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs, and a burgeoning new industry from developing in Maine. Maines loss would be a gain for Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

More broadly, saidRichard Silkman, a Portland energy expert who recently wrote a book about how to electrify Maines heating and transportation with renewable energy, there would be no way to power the state in the winter without offshore wind.

If this committee or the Legislature more generally acts to prohibit offshore wind energy development as proposed in this bill, Silkman said in his testimony, then it should be honest with Maine people and simultaneously strike all emission targets and related state policy. It is simply not financially possible to meet Maines aggressive climate goals without the development of offshore wind.

Opposition to Faulkinghams bill attracted a predictable whos who of environmental and clean-energy advocacy groups, including the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Environment Maine, Acadia Center and Conservation Law Foundation. Also against it were the Maine Municipal Association, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, Maines Public Advocate and the University of Maine, which developed the floating platform technology for the Monhegan project.

But onanother level, Tuesdays testimony also served to highlight an evolving proxy war between political parties leading up to next years race for governor.

Late last week, the Republican Governors Association issued a news release headlined: Mills & Biden team up to destroy lobster industry.

The release noted President Bidens announced goal of speeding up offshore wind development in federal waters and combined it with media coverage in Maine of Mills plan to site a research wind farm 20 to 40 miles offshore.

Bidens & Mills plans to implement their extreme environmental agenda of offshore wind will be a death sentence for thousands of family-sustaining fishing jobs in Maine, the release stated.

It also noted that Mills policy stood in contrast to that of former Gov. Paul LePage, who tried to stifle offshore wind development and who could mount a campaign against her next year.

LePage is alternately admired and derided for his role in prompting aglobal energy company to abandon its plans in 2013 to build a $120 million demonstration floating wind farm at a state-approved test area off Boothbay Harbor. The Norwegian company, formally named Statoil, instead built the project in Scotland, where it has set records for offshore wind operating capacity.

At an anti-wind rally in Augusta last week, fishermen carried signs in support of L.D. 101, as well as logos showing a lobster holding a wind turbine in its claw under the heading, Crush Mills. They listened to speakers that included a representative for a political nonprofit aligned with LePage.

This week, the group posted an action alert on its Facebook page to draw support for Faulkinghams bill.

The delicate environment and significant fishing grounds of the Gulf of Maine should not be the laboratory where global energy corporations like Mitsubishi experiment with offshore wind, the post said in part.

Both bills will see further action by the committee in a work session that is yet to be scheduled.

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

Previous

Next

Read more:

Maine fishing interests seek total ban on offshore wind energy - Press Herald

These projects are scheduled to be commissioned in 2026 (at the earliest). The auction round will be completed by 1 September 2021. It is remarkable that for two out of three areas companies hold so called legal entry rights. This paper will outline the 2021 offshore auction round and the potential impact the legal entry rights may have. A detailed outline of the German funding system for offshore wind farms in Germany can be found here.

There is no offshore wind project in Germany without winning an auction. The central model provided for in the WindSeeG interlinks three vital topics for offshore wind farms in Germany with the successful participation in a tender procedure: the public-law permit, the public funding, as well as the grid connection of offshore wind projects. After an award, the respective project owner receives the exclusive right to undertake the procedure for the planning approval (Planfeststellungsbeschluss), which is the required form of permit for the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Not only the exclusive right to develop the project but also the entitlement to receive funding (in the form of a so called market-premium) is conditional upon the successful participation in the tender procedure. Finally, the tender entitles project to be connected to the grid.

As part of the central model, the state is responsible not only for the spatial planning but also for the pre-examination of potential project sites. In a first step, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt fr Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie BSH) publishes a Spatial Development Plan (Flchenentwicklungsplan) which includes potential project sites as well as target installation years for projects, locations of converter platforms etc. In a second step, a pre-examination of the sites is undertaken which will further assess the suitability of these areas. In case of a positive assessment, pre-investigated sites will be made available for tenders. In 2021, two areas in the North Sea (N-3.7 with a capacity of 225 MW and N-3.8 with a capacity of 433 MW) and one area in the Baltic Sea (O-1.3 with a capacity of 300 MW) will be awarded in the tender round.

The tender procedure follows a basic principle: The project owner offering the lowest bid value will be awarded. Initially, the WindSeeG intended to cap the maximum bid value based on a dynamic principle and linked the maximum bid value to the lowest successful bid in the 2018 tender rounds. However, since in the 2018 tender, zero cent bids were successful, future tenders would have been capped at zero cent bids. The legislator reacted and determined the maximum bid values for future tenders in order to ensure the future expansion of offshore wind energy. For the 2021 tenders, the maximum bid value is set at 7.3 cents/kWh.

Even if successful in the auction, bidders have to take into account the risk of losing the award due to legal entry rights (Eintrittsrecht) of certain older projects. This rule is designed as a special compensation for project owners that have invested in developing their projects in the relevant areas and which lost their projects with the implementation of the WindSeeG. For two out of three areas that a put out for auction in 2021, companies hold so called legal entry rights which they can enforce after the auction. This means that they can snap away the respective project from a successful bidder by matching the winning bid.

The legal entry rights have been granted to so-called existing projects that did not win in the 2017 or 2018 auctions. These auction rounds were designed for existing projects, which reached an advanced development status by 1 August 2016 and were located in designated areas in the North and Baltic Seas and which were not grandfathered from the changes introduced by the WindSeeG. These projects had to be located in one of the clusters 1 to 8 (North Sea) or clusters 1 to 3 (Baltic Sea) of the Federal Sectoral Plan Offshore (Bundesfachplan Offshore) for the German Exclusive Economic Zone.

Project developers of existing projects are granted a second chance in the central tender procedure if they meet certain requirements. Not only must the projects participated in the 2017 and 2018 tender rounds without success, but also had the developers to follow the relevant procedure back in 2018 (i.e. transfer of relevant documents and information as well as waiver). If these requirements are fulfilled and if the areas, in which the existing projects were planned, are put out to tender the legal entry right can become relevant. The legal entry right is a comparative advantage for the beneficiary. Companies holding a legal entry right can enter the successful bid of third party and then realise their project in accordance with the conditions of the third partys bid. In the 2021 tender, two of the offered areas (N-3.8 and O-1.3) can be dragged away by making use of an entry right. Legal entry rights can be used by notifying the Federal Network Agency at the latest by the end of the calendar month following the announcement of the awards. The award will the be transferred to the existing project leaving the actual successful bidder empty-handed.

Bids can be submitted by 1 September 2021. Bidders are obliged to use templates that have been published by the Federal Network Agency. The results of the tender round are expected to be announced within September. If not successful in 2021, project developers will have further chances over the next years. The BSH already published pre-investigated sites to be opened for tenders between 2022 and 2025 which are all located in the North Sea. The maximum bid value will, however, decrease 6.4 cents/kWh in 2022 and 6.2 cents/kWh in 2023.

Continued here:

2021 Offshore Wind Auction in Germany | Hogan Lovells - JDSupra - JD Supra

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Seaspiracy producer Kip Andersen are calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to reverse a Trump administration executive order permitting the growth of offshore aquaculture operations and practices.

PETA and Andersen said in a letter to Biden that Executive Order 13921 on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth allows for the the proliferation of damaging and deadly offshore fish-factory farms, which "cause substantial suffering to the farmed fish."

The last thing our oceans need is more fish-factory farms leaking pestilence, parasites, and pollutants into the water, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a press release announcing the letters deployment. PETA is asking the president to protect our oceans and everyone who lives in or near them by pulling the plug on this reckless order.

Within the letter itself, Newkirk and Andersen said they delivered the letter on behalf of the nonprofits more than 6.5 million members, and millions of viewers disturbed by the revelations in the documentary Seaspiracy.

In issuing and implementing Executive Order 13921, the Trump administration made it clear that it was intended to reduce the burdens on commercial fishing operations, and it indisputably shifts the cost of planning for such operations to taxpayers and reduces regulatory review of proposed projects despite the extensive harm to fish and the marine environment. Your administration has already taken many actions to stay, suspend, or reverse Trump administration decisions that jeopardize wildlife and the environment, the letter states. We commend you on those efforts and urge you also to revoke Executive Order 13921 to end this damaging policy in order to protect countless fish, other marine animals including birds, the sensitive marine environment, and potentially even human health from significant harm.

Since it premiered on Netflix in March, the 90-minute Seaspiracy has earned steady viewership and criticism from seafood industry stakeholders and scientists. The Marine Stewardship Council, Oceana, the National Fisheries Institute, and others have panned the film as misleading, with NFI likening it to a slickly produced propaganda [piece].

Plant-based seafood analog producers, on the other hand, have seen the film fuel their businesses growth.

We have noticed thatSeaspiracy has made a big impression on people and has contributed to a growing awareness of the importance of plant-based alternatives to fish, Giessen, the Netherlands-based Schouten Europe B.V. Product Manager Annemiek Vervoort told SeafoodSource. This will further increase the demand for fish substitutes.

Photo courtesy ofBiksuTong/Shutterstock

Original post:

PETA, Seaspiracy producer call on Biden to reverse offshore aquaculture executive order - SeafoodSource

The Inquirer and Mirror

(May 3, 2021) Mayflower Wind, the developer of a proposed offshore wind project 20 miles south of Nantucket, will host a virtual open house from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 18 to provide an update on the projects status.

Upon completion, Mayflower Wind has the potential to generate over 1,600 megawatts of energy, enough to power over half a million homes. The project expects to begin generating energy by the mid-2020s, company officials said.

The presentation and Q&A session will be held via Zoom. Click here to register.

The May virtual open house is the first in a series of free online events to provide project information and a discussion forum for community members and others.

Mayflower Wind is a joint venture between Shell and Ocean Winds.

The Nantucket Select Board will also meet in executive session Thursday to discuss its legal options regarding the proposed wind farm.

Vineyard Wind, the first venture to develop an offshore wind project south of the island, has agreed to pay the town and island nonprofit organizations up to $16 million over the next eight to 10 years as financial mitigation for its proposed 84-turbine offshore wind-energy project 15 miles southwest of Madaket.

Click hereto sign up for Above the Fold, The Inquirer and Mirrors twice-weekly newsletter, bringing you both the news and a slice of island life, curated with content created by Nantuckets only team of professionally-trained journalists.

For up-to-the-minute information on Nantuckets breaking news, boat and plane cancellations, weather alerts, sports and entertainment news, deals and promotions at island businesses and more, Sign up for Inquirer and Mirror text alerts.Click Here

Continue reading here:

New offshore wind farm virtual forum May 18 - The Inquirer and Mirror

Additionally, the Hybrid AUV / ROV is equipped as a containerized spread to transform any vessel of opportunity into a survey and inspection platform in less than 18 hours. This allows deepwater assets and offshore wind operators to reduce their costs, risks, and carbon footprint by lowering offshore man-hours, chartering a DP1 or above vessel, and reducing shipping costs by using our containerized spread.

Manning continued, "We are also seeing requirements for inspection campaigns to now include LiDAR technology and the use of our SL Subsea LiDAR laser technology allows us to provide a fully integrated cost-effective path to our customers while maximizing vessel time (much faster than a normal work class ROV spread) on smaller footprint vessels thus reducing carbon emissions and cost."

The 3,000 meter rated dual hull Hybrid AUV / ROV is a hovering supervised addition that takes full advantage of 3D at Depth's patented SL Subsea LiDAR laser with remote sensing technology. This asset encompasses a tightly coupled class-leading inertial navigation package with fixed offsets to the sensor payload, which includes but is not limited to; 3D at Depth's SL3 LiDAR laser, Ultra-High Resolution multibeam echosounder, Sidescan sonar, multiple camera and light solutions, and a methane leak detection sensor. Additional sensors for level 2 inspections such as cathodic protection and flooded member detection are available as optional additions. Furthermore, the sensor payload is fully integrated with customized electronics and software that allows the Hybrid AUV / ROV to act as one tool, enable one set-up, and ultimately require one mobilization for multiple survey deliverables allowing for efficient and integrated operations.

According to the Company, its USBL acoustic positioning system and system communications come from a blend of industry-standard products with high track records in the marine environment for shallow and deep-water communications. This stable and capable platform enhances 3D at Depth's recently announced offshore Geophysical Survey Services division to provide optimized surveys to support medium to deep water (50m - 3000m) offshore development activities. The vehicle's stern also has a higher tolerance for currents with its low profile making it a useful tool for offshore windfarm work where currents are a factor in shallow water operations, and in other scopes including pre- and post- pipeline routes, environmental site surveys, offshore hydrocarbon projects, and civil engineering surveys.

3D at Depth's existing Marine Survey Services and new Geophysical Survey Services are greatly enhanced by having access to the Hybrid AUV / ROV. The Hybrid AUV / ROV being fully integrated with the company's custom software, electronics, and patented SL Subsea LIDAR laser technology greatly improves its usefulness and effectiveness, something which is sure to deliver great value to 3D at Depth's client base.

3D at Depth will host virtual and small in-person demonstrations that are respectful of COVID-19 in Houston during the month of June 2021. Interested parties are asked to express their interest in attending the demonstration by visiting http://bit.ly/3DatDepth-Demo.

About 3D at Depth

3D at Depth, Inc. provides advanced subsea SL Subsea LiDAR laser systems, survey support services, and 3D point cloud collection, visualization, and analysis solutions to help clients optimize marine, underwater, and offshore survey campaigns. Precise, repeatable, millimetric 3D point clouds acquired through patented SL Subsea LiDAR laser technology allow clients to "measure in 3D and manage in 4D" to increase operational efficiencies and reduce downtime. The Company's locations in Australia, Europe, and the United States support customer survey operations around the world. For more information and a broader listing of services visit us at http://www.3datdepth.com and LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter @3DatDepth.

Media at 3D at Depth

Media Contact:3D at Depth:Alma Alling+1.832-800-4010[emailprotected]

SOURCE 3D at Depth, Inc.

http://www.3datdepth.com

Read the rest here:

3D at Depth Strengthens Its Position in the Offshore Integrity and Inspection Industry - PRNewswire

Ten new companies have joined the AquaVentus offshore wind-to-hydrogen project, including offshore wind developers rsted, Equinor, and WindMW, as well as the offshore construction company Royal Boskalis Westminster.

The AquaVentus consortium, which is developing a massive project revolving around green hydrogen production powered by 10 GW of offshore wind installed in the North Sea, now counts 50 companies and organisations.

In the latest group, the initiative also welcomed the certification company DNV, the engineering specialist Offshore Wind Technologies (OWT), the seamless steel pipe manufacturer Vallourec, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the consultancy company Buckstay, and the logistics service provider Karlsson.

From January until mid-March, eight companies have joined the consortium, including the offshore wind developer EnBWand Linde a hydrogen production, transport, storage and distribution company. EDFs hydrogen-oriented subsidiary Hynamics, Brunsbttel Ports, and the maritime service provider EMS have also been part of the AquaVentus consortium since early this year.

AquaVentus comprises numerous sub-projects along the value chain from the production of hydrogen in the North Sea to transport to customers on the mainland.The projects include the development of offshore wind farms with integrated hydrogen generation (AquaPrimus), a large-scale offshore hydrogen park (AquaSector), a central supply pipeline (AquaDuctus), port infrastructures (AquaPortus), a research platform (AquaCampus), and hydrogen-based maritime applications (AquaNavis).

Under the first sub-project, AquaPrimus, the consortium plans to install two 14 MW wind turbines, each with an electrolyser plant on its foundation platform. The wind turbines would be installed off Mukran, Sassnitz by 2025.

This April, project partners Shell, RWE, GASCADE, and Gasunie signed a declaration of intent to further intensify their collaboration on AquaDuctus, with a feasibility study planned as the next step for the project.

The AquaVentus project was launched last year by some of the biggest players in offshore wind, including RWE, Shell, Siemens Gamesa, MHI Vestas, Parkwind, Vattenfall, and Northland Power.

The projects offshore wind farms, with a total capacity of 10 GW, would be built between the Heligoland island and the Dogger Bank sandbank by 2035, and the electricity they generate would be used to produce hydrogen at offshore electrolysis plants.

From there, hydrogen would be transported to Heligoland and further to the German mainland via the AquaDuctus pipeline system. Some of the hydrogen stored at the AquaPortus in the Heligoland outer port would be used to power vessels.

The AquaVentus consortium estimates that the project could yield up to one million tonnes of green hydrogen annually.

The rest is here:

Equinor, rsted, Boskalis Join AquaVentus Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Project - Offshore WIND

Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the worlds largest offshore wind project, will use what the developers say is a revolutionary platform design, unveiling the worlds first unmanned High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) offshore substation.

When complete in 2026, the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank wind farm will become the biggest in the world, able to produce enough electricity to power around five per cent of the UKs electricity demand. The wind farm is located over 130 kilometres out to sea.

A joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Eni, is leading on the construction and delivery of the wind farm. Equinor will operate Dogger Bank on completion for its lifetime of up to 35 years.

First Offshore Wind Project to Use HVDC Tech in UK

Dogger Bank will be the first offshore wind project in the UK to use HVDC technology to transmit the electricity produced back to shore.

Upon the first installation in Dogger Bank A during 2023, the projects HVDC facility will also become the largest-ever at 1.2 GW, a scale-up from the previous industry benchmark of 0.8 GW, the developers said.

Weve committed to build this project with record low CfD strike prices and the associated benefits this provides to UK electricity consumers, said Steve Wilson, Project Director of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

We will do this by using the latest technologies to ensure we build and operate the wind farm efficiently, while achieving the highest standards in safety. In order to build this complex infrastructure project competitively, whilst introducing a new technical solution here in the UK, the Dogger Bank project team needed to drive a huge step change in design.

70 Per Cent Weight Reduction

Working closely with platform manufacturer Aibel, the Dogger Bank team were challenged to design the first unmanned offshore HVDC substation in the world.

Removing the need for personnel to stay on the platform meant it was then possible to eliminate elements such as the living quarters, helideck and sewage systems, resulting in a 70 per cent reduction in weight (per megawatt) of the topside compared to previous platforms installed, and cost savings of hundreds of millions of pounds, the developers said.

Traditional methods have been effective at transmitting electricity from wind farms that are closer to shore, but with Dogger Bank being so far from shore, we chose to use HVDC as it is much more efficient to transfer electricity over long distances, Jon Kippenes, Offshore Platform Manager for Dogger Bank, said.

As the first project to do this in the UK we were faced with potentially high costs and uncertainty, but by taking learnings from unmanned installation in Oil and Gas, and working closely with our supplier we have designed an innovative and safe platform with huge reductions in weight. This of course lowers the cost for this project, but also sets a new standard for offshore HVDC platforms. The Dogger Bank transmission concept was turned from being the projects Achilles heel into a competitive edge.

It is expected that re-use of design and execution method may give significant benefits to future HVDC projects of similar transmission capacity.

Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40 per cent), Equinor (40 per cent) and Eni (20 per cent). Dogger Bank C is a 50:50 joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor.

The rest is here:

Dogger Bank Wind Farm to Feature Unmanned HVDC Offshore Substations - Offshore WIND