November 3, 2023 — Danish energy developer Orsted A/S declared Tuesday that it and Eversource Energy LLC are committed to the 704-megawatt Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island, a “final investment decision” that came the same day Orsted scrapped two large offshore wind projects off the coast of New Jersey.
RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Revises Terms as It Issues Its Largest Wind Power Solicitation
October 17, 2023 — Rhode Island is moving forward with the state’s largest renewable energy solicitation after announcing it would form a three-state partnership with Connecticut and Massachusetts to review and coordinate a regional approach to offshore renewable energy. At the same time, Rhode Island is also providing additional latitude to developers to provide possible avenues to address the emerging financial challenges in the development of offshore wind energy resources.
The neighboring states each have recently had major offshore projects fall apart due to inflation pressures as well as rising costs due to supply chain problems and concerns over tax credits and incentive programs. Massachusetts agreed to let two projects pay fines to walk away from existing power purchase agreements and recently Connecticut also established a fine for a developer to cancel its power agreement. Last year, Rhode Island decided not to proceed with a proposed project saying that it was concerned over the affordability of the power coming from the offshore wind farm, while last week New York State turned down applications from developers that were seeking to increase the cost of power also citing inflation and rising costs to develop the projects.
Rhode Island’s state power company, Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued its anticipated request for proposals from offshore energy developers. The company is seeking to secure an additional 1.2 GW of offshore power to help address the state’s energy needs. The window to submit proposals runs through January 31, 2024, with the company saying that any winning bids will be announced in the summer of 2024.
RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Energy seeks proposals for additional 1,200 megawatts of offshore energy
October 16, 2023 — Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued a request for proposals to secure an additional 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind, the largest renewable energy solicitation ever sought for the state.
This latest request, previously announced by Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Sept. 28, comes a week after Rhode Island joined New England’s first multistate offshore wind memorandum of understanding with Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The MOU is meant to pave the way for a coordinated selection of offshore wind as each state solicits offshore wind energy generation through their own procurements.
“Bringing more affordable offshore wind opportunities to Rhode Island and our region is a key priority for us,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy. “We know there’s a sense of urgency to get more renewables online and we believe this next RFP will give developers a new, unique opportunity to think creatively about how they can meet the state’s clean energy and economic development goals, while balancing our customers’ affordability needs.”
RHODE ISLAND: R.I. Coastal Agency Approves New England Wind Project off Martha’s Vineyard
October 16, 2023 — Rhode Island coastal regulators gave the green light last week to another offshore wind project proposed for southern New England’s waters but without a key stakeholder in the room: the state’s fishing industry.
The Coastal Resources Management Council ruled by unanimous vote the 804-megawatt (MW) New England Wind project developed by Connecticut-based energy company Avengrid was consistent with federal and state regulations so long as it agreed to certain stipulations provided by agency staff. Final approval of the New England Wind project — formerly Vineyard Wind South — is left up to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
The project would install 84 turbines in a lease area 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, and deliver electricity via a buried export cable that would make landfall in Hyannis, Mass. Except for a small portion of the export cable, the project is located entirely outside of Rhode Island state waters.
It is the first wind project to be considered by CRMC’s executive body without input from the Fisherman’s Advisory Board (FAB). The board, a stakeholder group staffed by recreational and commercial fisherman and representatives from other related marine industries, resigned in protest in August, alleging state regulators were ignoring their own regulations to approve offshore wind projects that would be harmful to the environment and the fishing industry.
CRMC executive director Jeff Willis said at last Tuesday’s meeting that FAB’s resignations would have no impact on the approval process for New England Wind, and that the agency has continued to reach out to the members of the board and ask for their participation.
RHODE ISLAND: Another major offshore wind project clears state hurdle in Rhode Island
October 12, 2023 — Another large offshore wind farm near the southern New England coast is moving forward after securing the support of Rhode Island coastal regulators.
The state Coastal Resources Management Council unanimously voted Tuesday to award what’s known as a consistency certification to New England Wind, a two-part project of up to 130 turbines being developed by energy giant Avangrid Renewables. The council agreed that the project, with certain conditions attached, is consistent with Rhode Island coastal policies.
Fishermen advisory board’s walkout means fewer questions for project
The vote came at the end of a meeting that was much shorter and less contentious than similar deliberations on previous offshore wind proposals that have come before the Rhode Island council.
That was due in large part to the mass resignation five weeks ago of all the members of a board that advises the council on fishing impacts in protest of what they described as a regulatory process tilted in favor of offshore wind developers. Without the input of the Fishermen’s Advisory Board, there were fewer questions put to the representatives of Avangrid about their 2,004-megawatt project.
RHODE ISLAND: Anti-wind farm group sues CRMC over Revolution Wind OK
October 11, 2023 — Green Oceans, a Little Compton-based citizens group that fiercely opposes offshore wind farms, is in the midst of a civil lawsuit it has filed against the state Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), claiming the council violated the constitution, state regulations, and its own responsibilities when it approved the Revolution Wind farm in May.
The lawsuit, being heard in Newport Superior Court, asks the court to vacate the CRMC’s decision, which, in effect, declared that the wind farm conforms to the state’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), provided that the developer, Revolution Wind LLC, takes some agreed-upon mitigating actions.
Attorneys for the CRMC fired back, stating that private citizens have no legal standing to bring such a suit, that Green Oceans has not suffered injury because of the CRMC action, that the complaint was filed past deadline, and that Green Oceans was taking the action without an attorney, which is not allowed.
The next scheduled action in the case will be a hearing on a motion to dismiss on Nov. 17 in Newport Superior Court.
The May vote by the CRMC was a fairly minor but necessary state-based approval and part of a long approval process that Revolution Wind LLC began more than two years ago. Final approval comes from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The developer proposes to build 65 wind turbines, two offshore substations, and miles of undersea cable on the Continental Shelf about 13 miles from Rhode Island, bringing 704 megawatts of clean electricity onshore. The project is part of a strong push by the federal and state administrations to replace energy from dirty fossil fuels with renewable energy.
The federal government released in July a final Environmental Impact Statement for Revolution Wind. That is nearly the last action that happens before final approval, which is given by BOEM, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
RHODE ISLAND: Making a Splash: Reed Delivers $500,000 for RI Fisheries Research
October 11, 2023 — The following was released by Jack Reed:
Rhode Island’s commercial fisheries and seafood sectors account for more than 4,300 jobs and drive $420 million in statewide economic impact, according to a joint Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation-University of Rhode Island study.
In an effort to help ensure continued growth and sustainability of Rhode Island’s commercial fishing sector amidst evolving challenges with ocean health, U.S. Senator Jack Reed today delivered a $500,000 federal earmark to finance a deep dive study that will help the Ocean State’s commercial fishermen.
Senator Reed joined David Bethoney, PhD, Executive Director of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF); local fishermen; and research collaborators at Point Judith’s Superior Trawl facility to celebrate this federal funding that will advance and enhance the organization’s efforts to understand, manage, and develop innovative solutions to challenges faced by commercial fishermen.
“As climate change rapidly alters the coastal landscape and oceans, we’ve got to support our commercial fishermen and help them adapt while also taking good care of our commercial fisheries. The well-being of both our fishermen and fisheries is critical to the Blue Economy and our economic future,” said Senator Reed. “CFRF research is critical to resilient and sustainable fisheries and ensuring commercial fishermen have a voice and a say when it comes to policies that impact their livelihoods. This new funding will deepen our understanding of modern ocean challenges. The data collected by CFRF and their partners will be used to ensure commercial fishermen have appropriate access rights and develop innovative solutions to ensure our commercial fisheries are healthy, resilient, and can thrive.”
“We are excited and grateful for this opportunity to build on initiatives that empower the commercial fishing community to help us understand and address significant change in the ocean environment,” said David Bethoney, PhD, Executive Director of CFRF.
With this federal earmark, CFRF will leverage and grow cooperative research efforts on issues affecting fishermen in Rhode Island and across southern New England. This work will utilize the knowledge of local fishermen to better understand and mitigate challenges facing the fishing sector, like climate change, rapidly warming waters, and plastic pollution. Specifically, CFRF will use these federal funds to:
- Modernize its Shelf Research Fleet initiative;
- Add juvenile black seabass monitoring to the Black Seabass Research Fleet;
- Create an informed implementation strategy for automatic squid jigging, and;
- Continue ghost gear removal from Rhode Island waters.
Additionally, CFRF plans to invite more local fishermen to participate in these research initiatives, creating a path for fishermen to supplement and diversify their incomes. For example, the Shelf Research Fleet has included 18 fishermen since the project first started to collect profiles of water temperature and salinity at two-week intervals across the continental shelf. This research effort has already identified an increase in bottom intrusions of warm, salty water that may have gone undetected without their monitoring.
A senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Reed secured this $500,000 earmark in the fiscal year 2023 consolidated appropriations law. The funding will be administered by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Earlier this year, Senator Reed also delivered $2.4 million to build a new shellfish hatchery and research center that will support the Ocean State’s aquaculture and seafood industries. This project is a collaboration between the University of Rhode Island and Matunuck Oyster Farm.
The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation is a nonprofit established by commercial fishermen to conduct collaborative fisheries research and to carry out education projects.
New England states join to buy offshore wind power as US industry struggles
October 5, 2023 — Three U.S. states in New England – Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut – on Wednesday agreed to jointly procure offshore wind power as soaring interest rates and rising equipment and labor costs have made some projects uneconomic.
By joining forces, the states hope to counter the pain rippling across the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, which is expected to play a key part in decarbonizing the power sector and revitalizing domestic manufacturing.
Earlier this week, another offshore wind developer canceled agreements to sell power to local utilities – this time in Connecticut – because the previously agreed upon prices for that power was too low to cover the rising cost of building the project.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced the agreement between the three states at the American Clean Power Association’s Offshore WINDPOWER Conference in Boston, according to a press release on the governor’s website.
Read the full article at Reuters
RHODE ISLAND: Ocean State On the Hook: Warming Coastal Waters Will Impact Fisheries, Tourism
October 5, 2023 — Since Rhode Island calls itself the Ocean State, hypes its beaches, named calamari the official state appetizer, paid to place unappetizing stuffie installations made of Styrofoam in airports around the country, and relies heavily on coastal tourism for its economic survival, it stands to reason its elected officials, business owners, residents, and visitors are concerned about the health of the planet’s marine waters, especially those that lap the local coastline and play host to squid and quahogs.
They should be. The Northwest Atlantic Ocean — southern New England’s coast sits in the middle of it — is among the planet’s fastest-warming marine waters.
“Climate-driven changes in the oceans are projected to yield an average increase of 1° to 6°C in sea surface temperatures by 2100, which is likely to have profound effects on marine ecosystems and the communities, businesses, and fisheries that rely on them,” according to a study published in August.
The life- and economy-sustaining marine ecosystem is vulnerable to human influences. There is a limit to the abuse the oceans can take and still function as the planet’s lungs and circulatory system.
The incessant burning of fossil fuels, the dragging of industrial fishing gear along the seafloor, overfishing, and the dumping — directly and indirectly — of so much of our waste into the ocean is changing its composition. Biodiversity in the world’s marine waters is rapidly declining. Corals are bleaching. The oceans are warming, acidifying, and plastifying. The saltwater system is dying, or at least running a high fever. It is sick.
“New England’s ocean is facing a crisis on multiple fronts,” said Priscilla Brooks, vice president of ocean conservation at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF). “Climate change, overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction are combining to dangerously affect marine life which, if left unchecked, does not bode well for the future of our ocean.”
Simply put, we need to start treating the marine environment better. In fact, we need to provide some universal health care. Many people living in this region, in fact, are troubled by the oceans’ current condition.
A recent CLF poll found that New Englanders are increasingly worried about ocean health. They cited polluted runoff, plastic, climate change, overfishing, and habitat and species loss as significant concerns. Respondents strongly preferred establishing protected areas to mitigate these threats.
We could also stop killing the oceans’ top predators.
RHODE ISLAND: RI Energy hopes to build 1200MW offshore wind farm
September 29, 2023 — Despite the Ocean State’s largest utility company pulling out of another offshore wind project earlier this year, Rhode Island Energy is still interested in developing clean energy projects of its own.
The company announced Thursday that it will issue an official request for project proposals to build a 1200-megawatt offshore wind farm in October.
The McKee administration said submissions to the RFP will likely be due in early 2024 and will be evaluated by Rhode Island Energy, the Office of Energy Resources, and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers.
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