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The Block Island Wind Farm, located off the coast of Block Island, RI, is pictured on Jun. 13, 2017.

David L. Ryan | Boston Globe | Getty Images

The Governor of New Jersey has signed an executive order to increase the state's target for "offshore wind-generated electricity."

The order, which was signed by Phil Murphy Tuesday, ups the target from 3,500 megawatts (MW) by 2030 to 7,500 MW by the year 2035.

"There is no other renewable energy resource that provides us with either the electric-generation or economic-growth potential of offshore wind," Governor Murphy said in a statement.

"When we reach our goal of 7,500 megawatts, New Jersey's offshore wind infrastructure will generate electricity to power more than 3.2 million homes and meet fifty percent of our state's electric power need," he added.

In a statement issued Thursday, the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) Laura Smith Morton described the announcement from New Jersey as "a significant commitment to offshore wind-generated electricity and clean energy."

Smith Morton, who is the AWEA's senior director, policy and regulatory affairs, went on to state that the East Coast was "leading the U.S. in establishing offshore wind as the next major American energy source."

According to the International Energy Agency's Offshore Wind Outlook 2019, global investment in the offshore wind sector in 2018 was roughly $20 billion, compared to under $8 billion in 2010.

In the U.S., however, the offshore wind market is still relatively nascent. The country's first offshore wind farm, the five turbine, 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island, only commenced commercial operations in late 2016.

Major projects are in the pipeline, however. Danish firm Orsted, for instance, is developing the 120 MW Skipjack facility off the Maryland coast and the 1,100 MW Ocean Wind project off the coast of New Jersey. It's expected that the facilities will be commissioned in 2022 and 2024 respectively.

Overall, the U.S. is now home to more than 100 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity, according to a recent report from the AWEA.

The AWEA's "U.S. Wind Industry Third Quarter 2019 Market Report" states that 1,927 megawatts a little under 2 gigawatts of wind power capacity was commissioned in the third quarter of 2019, the highest third quarter on record for installations.

These installations pushed overall capacity above the landmark figure of 100 GW, the AWEA's report said.

In a statement sent to CNBC via email on Wednesday, Gregory Wetstone, the president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, sought to highlight the importance of wind energy to the U.S.

"If the United States is going to compete and win in the 21st century's global clean energy marketplace, ramping up our nation's wind production is going to be absolutely critical," he said.

"Offshore wind has an important role to play as an untapped, but potentially massive, emerging market in the U.S. that can drive billions of dollars in economic investment and create tens of thousands of American jobs," he added.

In the onshore sector, this week has also seen major Italian energy firm Enel, via subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, commence construction on a 299 MW wind farm in North Dakota.

The Aurora facility is set to be completed by the end of 2020 and will produce roughly 1.3 terawatt hours per year.

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New Jersey ramps up targets as it looks to go big on offshore wind energy - CNBC

The nations first offshore wind farm has opened off the coast of Rhode Island, ushering in a new era in the U.S. for the industry. Deepwater Wind built five turbines three miles off Block Island, to power about 17,000 homes. (Dec. 12) AP

Offshore wind farming is a new concept for Delaware, but one that could bring real change should the turbines be built off the Delmarva coast.

With that proposal comes anxiety and fear from local residents. But experts say there's more to it.

In an attempt to examinesome of the rumors and myths, Delaware Online/The News Journal talked toJeremy Firestone, the director of the University of Delaware's Center for Research in Wind (formerly the Center for Carbon Free Power Integration),as well as an attorney, policy scientist and former member of Gov. John Carneys recent Offshore Wind Working Group.

He has worked on studies looking at the public's perception of offshore wind and many other local wind-related issues that could impact coastal Delaware, among other technical aspects of the industry.

In this file photo, Jeremy Firestone, director of UD's Center for Research in Wind, speaks during the first meeting of a working group created by Gov. John Carney to formulate steps the First State can take to get an offshore wind project underway.(Photo: Doug Curran, DOUG CURRAN/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS)

Here's what you need to know about offshore wind development off Delaware's coast and address some of the major concerns raised about the state's proposed partnership with an offshore wind company.

BACKGROUND: Offshore wind company wants to build on state parkland, offering upgrades in exchange

How it was done: Was Delawares connection to offshore wind borne in secrecy? Depends who you ask

Over the years, the size of wind turbines has grown significantly. The newest on the market is a 12-megawatt turbine that stands about 853 feet in height. Delawares only commercial-grade wind turbine at UDs Lewes campus is 404 feet. The turbines off Block Island, Rhode Island, are about 600 feet.

Because the proposed turbines are so large, they will have to be spaced out more than previous plans would have called for, he said. He estimated they will need to be about 1 nautical mile about 1.2 land miles apart.

Wind turbines of the Block Island Wind Farm tower over the water on Oct. 14, 2016, off the shores of Block Island, Rhode Island.(Photo: DON EMMERT, AFP/Getty Images)

But just because its a newer and bigger technology does not necessarily mean greater risk, he said.

They dont look significantly different than the Lewes wind turbine, theyre just bigger, he said. One shouldnt anticipate theres going to be any greater risk involved in a new model of wind turbine.

Just like new car models, wind turbines also go through a series of industry certifications to ensure safety and performance.

Firestone said that even the larger models of wind turbines will be difficult to see from the sandy shores of Delawares beaches. The exception would be on extremely clear days and also depending on what requirements the Federal Aviation Administration will have for nighttime lighting.

In the summer, you probably wont see them very much because of the haze, he said.

rsted's Skipjack Wind Farm off the southern coast of Delawareand U.S. Winds proposed wind farm closer to the coast of Ocean City are both Maryland projects. Maryland will receive the renewable energy credits for those projects, and ultimately the power, too.

A connection in Delaware could bring some benefits, though, Firestone said.

Firstly, the electrons generated by the windmills dont care whose renewable energy portfolio they belong to; theyll go wherever the demand pulls them. That means, if the partnership comes to fruition, technically Fenwick Island and other places hooked to that substation will be using green energy.

Fenwick Island State Park sits mostly empty on a breezy November day. A proposed plan would upgrade the park's amenities in exchange for allowing a Denmark-based company to build a offshore wind connection facility on 1.5 park acres.(Photo: Jenna Miller/Delaware News Journal)

Adding a new energy source to the grid could also help drive prices down, Firestone said. Delmarva largely imports its power and is at the mercy of the pricing of those generators.

Hypothetically, if it costs $20 per megawatt hour to generate power normally, prices can jump to hundreds of dollars in times of high demand, like stretches of hot summer days. Because alternative energy like wind and solar are use-it-or-lose-it sources, theyre always bidding low prices and can help offset those higher costs.

The short way is wind offshore windwill end up lowering prices by a little bit, he said.

Some people and groups like the conservative-leaning Caesar Rodney Institute have estimated very negative impacts to Delawares coastal tourism industry, as well as rental and real estate pricing.

But the data does not back up claims that an offshore wind farm would bring up to a 30 percent reduction to a $6 billion industry, Firestone said.

The University of Delaware study that has been quoted in recent days actually found that those who avoid the Delaware beaches because of wind turbines will be offset by those people who dont mind or are actually interested in seeing them.

Delaware's proposed plan to partner with rstedto connect its wind farm to the grid in Delaware is both usual and unusual, Firestone said.

The only other offshore wind farm along the U.S. East Coast is off Block Island, Rhode Island, and owned by the same company. That also involved a deal between rstedand state officials to connect cables on the land.

"It's unusual in that they dont just want to go under the beach, they want to lease an area of the beach and put up switch gear. In that respect, its different," he said.

This draft rendering shows where the interconnection facility would be, in the top of the photo to the left of the highway along the bay side of Fenwick Island State Park. On the ocean side are some renderings of proposed improvements such as a new visitor center and pedestrian overpass.(Photo: Courtesy of DNREC)

As for how the public found out, there probably could have been better ways to go about it, he said. But it's also not unusual for government to sign memorandums of understanding.

"I think the rollout was probably not as good as it could have been," Firestone said."But its a memorandum of understanding. It'snot a binding agreement and better late to get the publics input than never."

Working in a sandy, dynamic coastal environment has its challenges. rstedis learning that with its project in Rhode Island.

There, thecables connecting the windmills to the grid have become exposed. That's another concern for Delawareans who have learned that offshore wind could be connecting in the First State.

"They (the wind companies) have no incentive at all for their cables to come unburied," he said. But there's a bit of a learning curve for companies on the American side of the Atlantic Ocean as they figure out how to work in shifting, sandy environments.

"A lot goes into, in part, the depth of cable burial, so the deeper youbury it, the more expensive it is," but the less risk you'd have of it coming to the surface, he said.

For the most part, public health risk is minimal, Firestone said.

Fenwick Island State Park sits mostly empty on a breezy November day. A proposed plan would upgrade the park's amenities in exchange for allowing a Denmark-based company to build an offshore wind connection facility on 1.5 park acres.(Photo: Jenna Miller/Delaware News Journal)

What many people who are concerned may not realize is that transmission lines are nearly everywhere, and cables underneath the seafloor are not a new phenomenon.

"I think the health risks are pretty minor," he said."From what we know about electromagnetic frequencies, there are concerns, but thebest science seems to suggest we dont have large concerns. Weve got electromagnetic frequencies all around us."

The World Health Organization has found thatpeople exposed to high levels of electromagnetic frequencies can suffersignificant adverse health impacts such as nerve impacts, but have not found significant evidence that they cause cancer.

Both WHO and the National Cancer Institute have concluded that the current studies and evidence show that low-level exposures do not cause cancer.

While we did not speak directly with Firestone on the environmental impacts of offshore wind development, there are a few issues to consider.

First, exploration to site the turbines will use similar techniques as are used to locate offshore oil and gas drilling. That raises concerns about impacts to marine life that use ecolocation to communicate, as well as potential impacts of adding a manmade structure into the wild ocean.

"While techniques are in some sense similar to [offshore oil and gas], they are different, too, with smaller impacts," Firestone clarified on Friday.

Fenwick Island State Park sits mostly empty in November.(Photo: Jenna Miller/Delaware News Journal)

People also have raised concerns about the impacts of drilling under the ocean beach and building on state park land on the bayside of Fenwick Island State Park. Any disturbance of natural land ultimately has some sort of impact, which will be studied in advance, according to state and company officials.

On the other hand, proponents of the Skipjack connection project in Delaware point to the unrealized risks of continuing to rely on fossil fuel for power, and the air pollution and other adverse impacts that come with that industry.

What did we miss? Contact environmental reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608,mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.

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Offshore wind in Delaware: Hearing from the states leading expert - The News Journal

Tail! Tail! shouts marine biologist Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, grabbing his crossbow as we close in on a humpback whale.

Rosenbaum gets into position on the bow of the boat, stands firmly with legs apart, takes aim, and fires at the 40-foot whale. The arrow that he releases doesnt have a point it has a hollow 2-inch tip to collect skin and blubber, and a cork-like stopper to prevent it from penetrating too deeply.

Cheers rise up from the small research crew. The hit looks clean. And sure enough, when they scoop the floating arrow out of the water, it contains a small white sliver of whale flesh, containing DNA that will help identify the humpback and its pod and potentially say something about its migratory patterns.

This is the sort of research that Rosenbaum, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Societys Ocean Giants program and senior scientist at the New York Aquarium, has been doing for decades around the globe. Recently, though, whale monitoring has taken on a new urgency in Rosenbaums own native habitat the Atlantic waters off of New York City and Long Island, where he grew up.

As whale populations have grown, the WCS and its collaborator, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, have been monitoring them, with an eye toward mediating conflicts between marine life and the oceans heaviest users: cargo ships, commercial trawlers and the U.S. military.

Now, the whales are poised to get many new, potentially disruptive neighbors: hundreds of skyscraper-high wind turbines, rising from the ocean floor.

The New York Energy Research and Development Authority has issued two large contracts for offshore wind and anticipates several more in the coming years. The first phase, expected to be complete by 2024, involves dozens of wind turbines in two different plots, leased by energy companies from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. They would generate 1700 megawatts enough to power more than one million homes.

These would be the largest offshore wind farms in North America and among the largest in the world. Subsequent phases are slated to build hundreds of turbines to generate 9,000 megawatts by 2035.

Rosenbaums mission is to share information about the whales, in particular their feeding and migratory patterns, with regulators and the energy developer, a Norwegian multinational corporation called Equinor, and together craft strategies to mitigate damage to the whales habitat.

Everyone is interested in the benefits of renewable energy and what that does for our climate and for society, Rosenbaum said, as the boat motored to Equinors lease area, an 80-thousand acre triangle 20 miles south of Queens and Nassau County. We also want to protect the wildlife and these habitats.

Dr. Howard Rosenbaum on a recent research expedition. David "Dee" Delgado (WCS/Ocean Giants/Image taken under NMFS MMPA/ESA Permit no. 18786-04)

Equinor is primarily a fossil fuel developer, with drilling for oil and natural gas around the globe. A spokeswoman for the companys North American said the company has a zero harm mandate when it comes to extracting natural resources which they hope to exceed in this project.

Environmentalists are naturally skeptical of energy producers like Equinor, but the major groups in the region believe the risks posed by climate change, to ocean life and all life, are so vast, that they justify whatever risks to local habitat might come from offshore wind farms.

Its possible to harmonize protections for marine life with ambitious efforts to fight the climate crisis, said Francine Kershaw, from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Listen to reporter Fred Mogul's story for WNYC:

Catherine Bowes, from the National Wildlife Federation, praised Equinor for committing to a new construction technology that will lower enormous pre-built cement foundations for the wind turbines, rather than pile-driving into bedrock to hold the 850-foot-tall steel towers in place.

Whales are extremely sensitive to noise, so avoiding pile-driving is a big step.

These gravity foundations are a really exciting technology that could change how everyone puts up turbines, said Bowes, who is a member of the Environmental Working Group overseeing New Yorks two projects. They could potentially take one really large threat to whales off the table.

But Bowes would also like to see Equinor and the other company that won a New York contract, the Danish corporation Orsted, put into writing strict commitments comparable to one made recently by a Massachusetts developer, Vineyard Wind, especially on how they manage their boats during construction and then later during the multi-decade-long operational period.

Ship strikes are one of the greatest risks to whales, she said. We need to get all developers to commit to actively monitoring for whales and to reducing ship speeds to avoid hitting the animals.

In one study, NOAA estimated that 37 whales were killed by boat strikes between 2010-2014, from the Gulf of Mexico up the Atlantic to Canada, but more recent monitoring by the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society found roughly that many whales killed by boats in a two-year period -- off New York alone.

We believe we can actually be part of the solution here in bringing back whales and improving the whole ecosystem, said Julia Bovey, Equinors director of external affairs in New York. The data Howard and his team are collecting can make a massive difference in how we affect the marine environment.

Equinor is underwriting much of the research. The company declined to say how much theyre spending, but Rosenbaum estimates that two sophisticated buoys they will soon deploy will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. These near-real-time acoustic monitors record whale calls and relay them to on-shore scientists via satellite.

We need to be able to stop construction when the whales are in the area and be able to construct responsibly when theyre not there, and the information from these buoys will be crucial, Bovey said.

While all whales are considered vulnerable, the North Atlantic Right Whale is among the most endangered animals on earth. There are only about 400 of them, according to the latest research by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

There are two sets of dangers to whales that Rosenbaum hopes the data hes collecting will mitigate. Ship strikes during the construction period are a known and quantifiable risk. But what long-term danger the massive underwater structures and the transmission cables might pose to the whales is largely unknown. (Whales do not migrate through the massive wind farms in Europe.)

Does it create better foraging areas for whales? Does it disturb an area they might use? Rosenbaum said. I think these are all questions that are all going to be borne out in the years to come.

The wind farm project predates a massive greenhouse gas reduction package the state government passed earlier this year, but it has become a centerpiece of what Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling New Yorks Green New Deal. The legislation calls for 100-percent renewable energy by 2040, with a plan for reaching that goal to be mapped out in the next two years.

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Can Whales Be Protected From NY's Colossal Offshore Wind Farms? - Gothamist

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday signed an executive order backing a goal of 7.5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035, more than doubling the state's existing 3.5-gigawatt target for 2030.

By the mid-2030s, offshore wind could provide New Jersey with half of its electricity, Murphy said in a speech alongside former Vice President Al Gore. No other renewable energy resource provides us either the electric generation or economic growth potential of offshore wind, Murphy said.

New Jersey is heavily reliant on natural gas and nuclear power for its electricity, though it also gets nearly 5 percent from solar, among the highest penetrations in the country. Last year the state offered up subsidies to keep its dwindling fleet of nuclear reactors operating, joining a handful of other states including New York in doing so.

New Jersey looked set to be an early leader in the U.S. offshore wind industry, but the states market stalled under former Governor Chris Christie, a Republican. One early project facing Atlantic City, backed by developer Fishermens Energy (and later acquired by EDF), failed to move off the drawing board.

After taking office in January 2018, Murphy, a Democrat and the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, moved aggressively to help New Jersey catch up as the U.S. offshore wind market gained steam along the East Coast. New Jerseys 3.5-gigawatt target is codified in a law, and this summer the state contracted for itsfirst 1.1 gigawatts with rsteds Ocean Wind project, due for completion in 2024 using GEs 12-megawatt Haliade-X turbines.

While not yet written into law, New Jerseys newly boosted target offers the regional market another dose of visibility as it plans for the late 2020s and beyond, potentially paving the way for supply-chain investment.

Although many of the major components for the first few waves of large-scale U.S. offshore wind farms will be imported from Europe, the growing list of contracted projects and state targets is starting to bring the shape of the future supply chain into focus.

New Jersey is competing with states across New England and the mid-Atlantic region for offshore wind supply-chain investment and jobs. Only New York has a more ambitious deployment target, legislated at 9 gigawatts for 2035.

As part of its winning bid for Ocean Wind, rsted committed to helping Germanys EEW establish a plant for turbine foundations in Paulsboro, New Jersey. EnBW, a German utility and renewables developer looking to crack into the U.S. offshore market, recently opened an office in Jersey City.

Wood Mackenzie analysts expect the U.S. to blossom into a 2+ gigawatt offshore wind market by the early 2020s, with more than 16 gigawatts in place by 2028.

And the markets impact will be even larger than those numbers suggest, given that virtually all of that capacity will be built in waters between Massachusetts and North Carolina, necessitating once-in-a-generation investments into the region's port and harbor infrastructure.

In addition torsted, developers Equinor and Atlantic Shores (a venture comprising Shell New Energies and EDF) hold the rights to offshore zones in a position to sell power into New Jersey. The federal government is planning another round of lease auctions for additional zones near New York and New Jersey, likely making future offshore wind solicitations in those states even more competitive.

Developers like Equinor, meanwhile, believe floating wind farms could play a sizable role in California's future electricity market, complementing the state's large onshore renewables portfolio.

***

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New Jersey More Than Doubles Offshore Wind Target to 7.5GW - Greentech Media News

Emerging offshore markets can learn from Europe's success and use it in a domestic context

The global offshore market has grown by an average of 21 per cent each year since 2013. This growth has been driven by the offshore wind development in the UK, Germany and Denmark but now the industry is becoming global and Asia is primed to become the largest growth region for offshore wind over the next decade.

The global industry is expected to show a double-digit growth through 2030, when total installed capacity will reach nearly 190 GW.

To ensure that developing markets can capture the promise of offshore wind, policymakers should have a comprehensive understanding of the national offshore wind resource, including mapping and calculations of local wind climates. Governments need a long-term policy view of renewable energy targets and forecasted power demand.

Leading offshore wind markets have established mechanisms for stabilising income. Once there is access to a sustainable supply chain and sufficient competition, the requirement for public subsidy shrinks and these markets have very successfully moved to auctions.

Offshore wind offers immense potential to support a countrys energy demands and decarbonisation. For emerging offshore markets, there are many useful lessons from those at the front of the pack, which can be harmonised within a domestic context.

A 10-year forward policy, including targeted capacity, provides the industry with sufficient time to establish project pipelines and make necessary investments. The UKs Sector Deal targeting 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, to supply 33 per cent of British electricity, is one example of an ambitious policy framework.

A successful offshore sector requires a sizable industrial ecosystem and strong stakeholder engagement. Collaboration between government and regional industry is needed to build the capacity for an offshore wind supply chain, which can yield large-scale returns and job creation.

Stakeholder management of four key groupsthe military, vessel operators, fisheries and coastal towns/publicis also vital to obtaining permits.

Clear and simple regulation and permitting processes are critical to ensuring project life cycles are expeditious and predictable. There should be transparent rules for procurement, and a simplified process for permitting and site development.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has, for example, made great strides in reducing regulatory burdens, ensuring timely planning reviews and injecting certainty into the process of project development.

The author is policy and operations director, Global Wind Energy Council

This wasfirst published inDown To Earth's print edition dated 1-15November, 2019

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Capturing the promise of offshore wind - Down To Earth Magazine

In a first, the four offshore wind leaseholders in waters south of the Vineyard appear to be going in the same direction literally. In a joint statement Tuesday, the four firms announced they had agreed on a uniform turbine orientation and spacing for their projects.

A proposal the companies submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard for analysis says that turbines in the states proposed 742,000-acre wind energy area will be uniformly spaced one mile apart and oriented in an east-west direction. The agreement comes after the coastal engineering firm W.F. Baird and Associates conducted a study that evaluated the uniform layout proposal using international vessel safety guidelines.

In the joint statement, the companies said the agreement came in response to key New England maritime stakeholders.

This uniform layout is consistent with the requests of the regions fisheries industry and other maritime users, the statement said in part. In addition, independent expert analysis provided to the USCG confirmed that this uniform layout would provide for robust navigational safety and search and rescue capability by providing hundreds of transit corridors to accommodate the regions vessel traffic. We look forward to continuing to work with the USCG, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, coastal states, the fisheries industry, and other stakeholders involved to ensure continued coexistence of every ocean user in the region, including offshore wind.

Vineyard Wind, which plans to develop an 84-turbine wind farm about 15 miles south of the Vineyard, had initially proposed orienting their turbines in a northeast-southwest direction, spaced at least eight-tenths of a mile apart. According to earlier statements from the company, that decision had come from interacting with fishermen who felt the diagonal spacing would make the turbines easier to transit.

The Vineyard Wind project has been on hold since the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management decided late this summer to delay an environmental impact statement on the development while it examined the cumulative impact of the eastern seaboards wind energy boom.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, BOEM acknowledged the new proposed layout and also suggested that the EIS would not be delayed much longer.

This new information will be included and analyzed in the broader cumulative impacts analysis that the department is working on, the statement said. The department continues to work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Marine Fisheries Service and other federal agencies on the review of these layouts. We anticipate publishing the supplemental environmental impact statement and receiving public comments early next year.

Meanwhile, an early drawing from Mayflower Wind a joint venture between Shell Oil and EDP renewables that recently won the states second offshore energy bid showed that the company also would orient its turbines in an east-west direction. Information on proposed spacing plans was not available.

As a result all four companies, including Equinor and Bay State Wind, which hold lease areas that straddle Vineyard Wind, have said they will adhere to a uniform orientation and spacing for their proposed turbines, based on the Baird report.

The Baird report analyzed vessel traffic through the proposed wind energy area south of the Vineyard in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island waters, using data from ship transponders collected in the Automatic Identification System over the past two years. Density plots showed that turbines arranged in an east-west orientation with one nautical mile separation would allow for adequate transit corridors for all boats under 400 feet. The study concluded that larger boats would generally transit around the wind energy area.

This layout would accommodate the wide range of ports, destinations, and routes observed by fishing vessels, which makes up most of the traffic going through the [wind energy area], as well as the majority of observed vessel tracks through the [wind energy area] thereby by accommodating the wide range of reported fishing practices in the region, the report concluded.

If all offshore lease areas are eventually built out, the arrangement would provide 40 transit corridors in the east-west direction, 56 in the north-south direction and 48 in the northwest-southeast direction. Even though very few vessels travel in the southwest-northeast direction, there would be 87 in that orientation as well. The diagonal transit corridors would only be 0.7 nautical miles in width.

Given the many advantages of the proposed 1x1 nm turbine layout, the New England Leaseholders are proud to be working together to propose a collaborative solution to concerns that have been raised by stakeholders about the full-build out scenario of the [New England wind energy area], a letter signed by all the leaseholders and addressed to the Coast Guard reads in part. This proposed layout responds to input and requests from many stakeholders and creates an opportunity that we believe accommodates all ocean users.

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Martha's Vineyard News | Offshore Wind Farm Developers Agree on Direction - The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News

The German government is due to publish an official hydrogen strategy in December that will outline how producing H2 with renewable energy sources can close many technology gaps in an effort to push the economy towards climate neutrality, as part of its energy transition, the Energiewende. Power generation with offshore wind turbines is generally much more reliable and productive than with onshore wind thanks to the usually stronger and more constant breezes at sea.

Moreover, onshore wind power in Germany currently faces severe hurdles, as expansion levels have collapsed due to regulatory difficulties and little acceptance of more turbines by a number of citizen initiatives. Excessive power production at times of little demand or high wind input that otherwise leads to turbines being taken offline to avoid grid congestion could instead be used to produce hydrogen on site for later use.

Andreas Feicht, state secretary for energy in the economy ministry (BMWi), said that offshore wind was projected to cover a significant share of Germany's energy demand in the future, not least as a method for hydrogen production. He said that European countries should strive to develop entire hydrogen production value chains together to make sure they retain their lead in this promising market. In early November, economy minister Peter Altmaier said Germany had to become "the global number one" in hydrogen production and for doing so beat Asian countries in particular China and Japan to claim technology leadership.

In its Climate Action Programme 2030, Germany raised the expansion target for offshore wind to 20 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity by the end of the coming decade. Feicht, who met with representatives from Germany's coastal states and grid operators earlier that day to discuss how the new target can be implemented, said it was "challenging" but assured that everyone was "confident and committed" to make it work. He said that preparations for implementing the increased target had already begun, with basic planning for construction sites and grid connections expected to be finished next year.

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UK and Germany mull boosting cooperation on hydrogen production with offshore wind - Clean Energy Wire

European offshore wind developers could go one step beyond zero-subsidy projects and start paying a tariff for contracts.

So-called negative bids are quite likely in forthcoming European offshore wind tenders, said Michael Dodd, U.K. and Ireland director at consultancy DNV GL. Such bids would come in markets that have already seen zero-subsidy projects, Dodd added.

Although subsidy-free projects are becoming increasingly common in onshore windandsolar across Europe, so far only a couple of offshore markets have reached that point explicitly.

But going forward, said Dodd, developers seeking large pipelines might be tempted to pay for a lease in a low-risk market such as Holland so they can make up for any projects that fail to go ahead in more difficult environments. Its them buying the option, Dodd said.

Based on events so far, the Dutch market appears to be the most likely candidate for the emergence of negative bidding, he said.

We saw some aggressive strategies in the previous round in the Netherlands, said Dodd. The types of players that were playing in that auction are looking for ways they can reduce even further. If you go beyond zero, theres only one way you can go. The Netherlands is probably where you may see it first.

Europe's first no-subsidy offshore wind project emerged in 2017 in Germany, when utility EnBW and Dong Energy (now rsted) opted to go without subsidies for plants due to come online by 2025. The developers effectively bet on continued reductions in wind's levelized cost of energy, while taking advantage of the German government's willingness to cover grid-connection costs.

The grid-connection issue was also key when Holland tendered its Hollandse Kust Zuid 1 and 2 sites in 2017. Competing in a packed field, the Swedish developer Vattenfall concluded that not having to pay for a grid link could allow it to dispense with subsidies for offshore wind power from 2022 onward. The company walked away with 750 megawatts of capacity.

German lawmakers banned negative bidding in the countrys April 2018 offshore wind solicitation, which was for 1.6 gigawatts of capacity. This was mainly to discourage unrealistic offers from large firms looking to cut out smaller rivals.

Dutch policymakers had no such qualms in their second Hollandse Kust Zuid tender in 2018. They stipulated there would be no government support for the 760 megawatts on offer across the Hollandse Kust Zuid 3 and 4 lease sites, leading to intense speculation over the prospect of negative bids.

In the end, developers including Vattenfall, Engie, rsted and Eneco (in a consortium with Shell and Van Oord) shied away from negative bidding. Vattenfall again won the contest, giving it more than 1.5 gigawatts of unsubsidized offshore wind capacity in Holland.

Germany and the Netherlands remain atypical markets, experts point out. The governments' willingness to cover grid connection costs and to avoid imposing other significant duties on project developers equates to little downside if a developer ultimately is unable to complete a no-subsidy project.

But Andrei Utkin, senior analyst for global power and renewables at IHS Markit, said Europe effectively has already seen negative bids in other markets once future wholesale prices are factored in.

In a way, when we compare the French and U.K. winning bid levels with forward prices, we already see negative bids: forward baseload prices for year-ahead delivery are above those levels," Utkin said.

More and more renewables coming onto the grid will result in more curtailment and lower wholesale power prices, he said. As a result, the price that renewables will be able to capture in the market will decrease as well, going below their levelized cost of energy and potentially triggering the need for government support.

According to theNetherlands Enterprise Agency, a permit for the development of 700 megawatts in the Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm zone site will be tendered in the fourth quarter of this year.

And if that fails to draw negative bids, Germanys offshore wind industry bodies have called on Berlin to tender up to 2 gigawatts of capacity this year. Both countries also have ambitious build-out plans going forward.

Holland will be tendering 1.4 gigawatts of capacity in 2021 and 700 megawatts in 2022; Germany intends to offer 5 gigawatts in 2023.

Despite the risks, ambitious developers may increasingly see it as worth putting some money on the table to secure a big slice of those pies.

***

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When Will European Offshore Wind See Negative Bids? - Greentech Media News

A secret memorandum of understanding.

A loss of natural space.

Impacts to health, quality of life and ocean views.

Those were just a few of the concerns raised by a rowdy crowd of more than 200 people Tuesday night during discussions of a potential partnership between Delaware and an offshore wind company.

If these wind farms are constructed as proposed, the view off our shoreline to our horizon will be changed forever, said Ocean City Mayor Richard Meehan. The sunrise that you get up and look at in the morning will never be the same. It looks like Star Wars.

State and company officials field questions and concerns about a potential partnership between Delaware and an offshore wind company.(Photo: Maddy Lauria/Delaware News Journal)

Last month, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced that it was negotiating what was called a win-win agreement between state parks officials and rsted, a Denmark-based company that plans to build the Skipjack Wind Farm less than 20 miles off the Delmarva coast.

That partnership would allow rsted to build a connection facility on up to 1.5 acres along the bayside of Fenwick Island State Park in exchange for upwards of $18 million in park upgrades and amenities, including a pedestrian bridge over Coastal Highway, an amphitheater and bathhouses.

BACKGROUND: Offshore wind company wants to build on state parkland, offering upgrades in exchange

The agreement would call forrsted to drill cables under the beach, dunes and Coastal Highway to connect power generated from the proposed 12-megawatt windmills to the existing power grid.

The MOU signed between the two parties in the summer has turned heads in Fenwick Island and beyond, with some residents wondering why it took so long for that partnership to become public knowledge and why Delaware officials would sacrifice public lands to a private company.

This draft rendering shows where the interconnection facility would be, in the top of the photo to the left of the highway along the bay side of Fenwick Island State Park. On the ocean side are some renderings of improvements such as a new visitor center and a pedestrian overpass.(Photo: Courtesy of DNREC)

People applauded the idea to connect at the more commercialized state park along Indian River or somewhere in Maryland, repeatingthat the project will benefit Maryland, not Delaware.

The few bright yellow signs that read wind power now seemed small compared to the shouting voices of those who thought Delawareans were getting shortchanged through the potential partnership, losing pristine parkland in favor of built amenities.

While the electricity will feed into the grid at Fenwick Island and provide power to people in places like Fenwick Island and nearby Delaware towns, Maryland will get the renewable energy credits for the project, a point of contention for many in the crowd.

This map shows where an offshore wind lease area is along Delaware's coast. The yellow portion is where the Skipjack Wind Farm will be placed.(Photo: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management)

"Id like to believe all you guys because I believe in wind power, but the way the MOU was signed secretly I dont trust that all the things that you say you will do, that you will do," saidMohammad Akhter. "I want transparency."

While criticalvoices largely dominated Tuesdays meeting, there were a few who supported the idea that Delaware even though it wouldnt benefit from the project on paper would play a role in offshore wind development.

We all want the same thing, said Janet Redman of Rehoboth Beach. We want clean air. We want clean water. We want our children to be healthy. We want our grandchildren to be healthy. Anything we do to clean up the environment benefits everybody. Pollution doesnt stop at the state line.

Fenwick Island State Park, via Instagram user Valerie DeVincent(Photo: Image courtesy of Valerie DeVincent)

But those who supported the project, or pointed to the success of the Block Island offshore wind project in Rhode Island were met with loud boos and shouts of no.

rstedand DNREC officials were largely on the defensive during the nearly two-hour-long meeting, pointing to how the federal government has the final say in whether Skipjack itself can be built. Joy Weber with rsted said the company looked at multiple locations along the coasts of Maryland and Delaware before selecting a potential connection at Fenwick Island State Park.

If the proposed partnership falls through, rsted will have to start over in finding a place to connect to the grid, she said.

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608,mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.

Read or Share this story: https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2019/11/20/unhappy-delaware-residents-voice-frustration-offshore-wind-deal/4204269002/

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Residents give state an earful on 'secret' details of offshore wind plan - The News Journal