Latest news with #VineyardWind1
National Observer
30-06-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Trump's anti-offshore wind ire leading US states to look north for Atlantic Canada clean power
Massachusetts is among the American states exploring sourcing electricity from planned offshore wind farms in Atlantic Canada, following the US market-stalling moratorium imposed on the industry by the Trump administration earlier this year. The state, home to the pioneering 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind 1 project brought online last year, is one of six in the US Northeast aiming to shift to renewable energy-based power grids before 2040. But a representative from the Massachusetts energy department suggested they were being forced to rethink options for reaching a targeted 5,600 MW of offshore wind power this decade since Donald Trump — who has long been a vociferous opponent of ' windmills ' — made good on a threat to halt a number of multi-billion dollar projects on ' day one ' of his second presidency. Maria Hardiman, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, told Canada's National Observer her department was now in 'regular communication' around developing 'new energy sources,' including Canadian offshore wind that would allow it to lower electricity costs and boost energy independence in the state and the wider US Northeast. 'Building on our efforts to connect our regions through transmission, there are significant opportunities to construct new onshore and offshore wind projects across Canada and the [North American] northeast,' she said. 'We will continue to explore these partnerships to bring down energy bills and bolster the energy independence of our region.' Industry insiders say other states in the region, led by New York, are investigating tapping projects off the province of Nova Scotia, which is set for a first leasing of construction sites later this year. "These US Northeast states' options to meet their clean energy targets with onshore renewables are quite limited. So for this reason, large-scale Canadian offshore wind could come into the picture," says Aegir Insights' Signe Sorensen Yet, Massachusetts was the only state that would specifically comment on whether it was looking to source Canadian offshore wind power, when approached by Canada's National Observer. A spokesperson for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), a public-benefit corporation that handles power procurement for the state — which has a nation-leading target of bringing 9,000 MW of offshore wind onto its grid by 2035 — said it 'continues to be focused on advancing the offshore wind industry in the US.' 'We applaud Canada for growing its offshore wind industry which will help to spur additional innovation and support expansion in the North American market,' NYSERDA spokesperson Deanna Cohen told Canada's National Observer. States keeping projects low-profile Industry observers suggest many states have opted to progress projects in 'relative silence,' hoping that keeping a low profile will save their developments from Trump's anti-offshore wind ire. However, several market analysts believe Trump's pullback on what had been a steadily-maturing US offshore wind sector will mean there is a 'golden opportunity' for Canada to deliver power to key markets south of the border. 'The US, which was expected to become one of the world's main [offshore wind] markets, is now going in completely the opposite direction for political reasons,' said Signe Sørensen, an analyst with Danish offshore wind consultancy Aegir Insights. 'This could matter a lot to Canada.' The New England states have been 'spearheading the US build-out, procuring lots of offshore wind' as part of former US President Joe Biden's objective of adding 30,000 MW of production by 2030, she said. 'Delays to construction now will have ramifications far beyond Trump's term. 'These states' options to meet their clean energy targets with onshore renewables are quite limited,' said Sørensen. 'So for this reason, large-scale Canadian offshore wind could come into the picture.' John Dalton, president of Power Advisory, a US power sector consulting firm, told Canada's National Observer there was 'definitely a case' for future offshore wind production from Atlantic Canada being exported to New England. 'The Trump administration has largely derailed the realization of the [US Northeast's] electricity market's clean energy and offshore wind goals,' he said. 'States will be pivoting to other resources … with policymakers very focused on securing low [electricity] costs.' Nova Scotia offshore wind price 'very favourable' A price check between power purchase agreements finalized by US states with developers for wind farms now being built off the US — including the multi-billion-dollar Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind off New York and Revolution Wind off Rhode Island, which would together power well over 1 million American homes — and a number of the proposed projects off Nova Scotia compares 'very favourably' the Canadian sector. 'The economics of Nova Scotian offshore wind would certainly be competitive with these and future US offshore wind projects,' said Sørensen, though she declined to provide hard 'levelized cost of energy' figures – the industry benchmark metric for the cost of a project over its lifetime compared to the revenue generated by purchase power agreements, citing commercial confidentiality. Aegir CEO Scott Urquhart noted: 'Nova Scotia has a huge area of shallow water that could house tens of gigawatts [tens of thousands of megawatts] with excellent economics. Looking at distance to markets, interconnections to the US are not a crazy idea — they've been doing similar distances off Europe for years.' Given the historically high electricity prices in the US Northeast and the fast-rising power demand forecast, Aegir calculations suggest Nova Scotian offshore wind supply could fit well with states' pursuits of a strategy led by greater diversification of clean energy sources. Atlantic Canada's rich wind resource Winds rush along the coastlines of Canada's Maritime provinces at speeds similar to those off Northern Europe — at roughly 40 km/h — where offshore wind farms have been generating power to the grid for more than 30 years and have led to the development of a sector employing over 300,000 people. Canada's Atlantic Economic Council said last year that offshore wind off Nova Scotia could become a $7-billion market by 2030, creating an initial 5,000 jobs amid other benefits for regional economies. Nova Scotia is set to hold its first auction, where waters would be leased to developers to harness a first 5,000 megawatts (MW) of energy, before the end of 2025. The Global Wind Energy Council, an industry body, said in its most recent annual report Canada could add a first 1,000 MW by 2034. But under the aegis of making Canada an 'energy superpower,' Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has pitched a 40,000 MW project called Wind West as a means of meeting 27 per cent of the country's total energy demand. Multi-billion-dollar visions of a massive offshore wind-powered transmission trunkline running along North America's Atlantic coastline are not new. Several long-distance power transmission projects have been considered over the past decade, including the high-profile Atlantic Wind Connection backed by Google, Swiss green-energy private-equity house Good Energies, Japanese industrial conglomerate Marubeni, and Belgian transmission system operator Elia.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New York's monstrous new wind farm threatens environmental disaster
Earlier this month, the Trump administration temporarily took the wind out of New York's green energy ambitions by halting the enormous Empire Wind project off the state's coast. Doug Burgum, the Interior Secretary, directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to cease all construction activities on the farm, citing rushed approvals and insufficient interagency consultation under the Biden administration. He also ordered a broader review of federal wind permitting practices for both existing and pending projects. Following blowback from New York politicians, however, the Interior Department has once again allowed the project to proceed. It was right the first time. As president Trump has observed, wind power is both ugly and noisy. These projects are also of dubious economic and environmental value, and have sparked a backlash among voters that their advocates have little answer to. The Empire Wind project, developed by Norwegian energy giant Equinor ASA, will be the first offshore wind farm to deliver electricity directly to New York City. Granted approval in November 2023, it was the sixth such project approved by the Biden administration as part of its goal to reach 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030. With a projected capacity of 810 megawatts and a gross book value of $2.5 billion, construction began last month with rock installations around the turbine bases. Some local residents have always opposed the Empire Wind project. Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, condemned it as 'the industrialisation of our ocean, rubber-stamped by federal agencies and delivered by a foreign-owned corporation under the guise of climate action'. She warned that the project involves dumping 3.2 billion pounds of rock into the ocean and pile-driving 180-foot monopoles into the seafloor – activities that she said could destroy marine habitats and threaten the fishing industry. Endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale could also be harmed, she added. Opposition to Empire Wind is not an isolated case. In Massachusetts, the Vineyard Wind 1 project – a 62-turbine wind energy plant off Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard – recently survived a Supreme Court challenge. Approved in 2021, it was the first large-scale offshore wind project in the US and is expected to deliver 800 megawatts of capacity. Construction began in 2022 with cable installation and continued in 2023 with turbine installation. It is on track to be completed this year but has faced a substantial backlash. The Nantucket-based ACK for Whales group has criticised the 'environmental damage caused by offshore wind projects like Vineyard Wind'. It added: 'for way too long the 'all of government approach' advancing offshore wind has been reckless'. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the Revolution Wind project is also facing hostility. The nonprofit Green Oceans has formally requested that the Environmental Protection Agency revoke the project's permits, citing a failure to consider emissions from potential blade failures. Despite this, construction continues. The SouthCoast Wind project, approved only recently, is one of the largest of them all. Spanning 127,388 acres and potentially costing $5 billion, it is claimed that it could produce up to 2.4 gigawatts of energy for Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Yet the environmental costs could be significant. The National Marine Fisheries Service has authorised the 'take' of marine mammals due to pile driving, unexploded ordnance detonation, and high-resolution geophysical surveys. The noise from pile-driving can exceed 225 underwater decibels – comparable to standing next to a Boeing 747 engine underwater – posing serious risks to marine life. The SouthCoast Wind Project's record of decision includes pages of comments from individuals citing safety risks, aesthetic concerns, and threats to whale populations. These voices are often drowned out by the political momentum behind green energy, but they deserve to be heard. Radar interference is another concern. According to a Government Accountability Office report, wind turbines could reduce radar performance. Offshore wind plants may also obstruct military exercises and vessel movement. The full extent of these effects remains unknown, but experts warn that turbine position, height, and spacing could have significant consequences. The UK is also seeing blowback on wind. Earlier this month, the Danish company Orsted pulled out of building Hornsea 4, a large wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire, due higher interest rates and increased supply chain costs. This should be a moment of reflection. Both the UK and Europe have embraced wind power as a pillar of their net-zero strategies, but opposition is beginning to surface. A similar phenomenon is happening in the United States, after the Biden administration's precipitous decision-making. States which require use of renewable energy tend to have higher prices than states that use fossil fuels and nuclear power. Offshore wind is noisy, and ugly, and it becomes less desirable when approached with transparency, scientific rigour, and respect for the ecosystems it affects. Rushing through approvals without rigorous oversight is not climate leadership – it's recklessness. Green energy must meet the same standards we demand of any major infrastructure project. Diana Furchtgott-Roth is the director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at The Heritage Foundation Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Business Journals
20-05-2025
- Science
- Business Journals
Vineyard Wind mum on project status as clean energy goals lag
The offshore substation that each of Vineyard Wind 1's 62 turbines are intended to connect to (right) is seen on Aug. 1, 2023. At left is the "cable lay vessel" Giulio Verne, which connected the wind farm's export cable to the substation.
Epoch Times
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Supreme Court Won't Hear Challenge to Wind Energy Project off Massachusetts Coast
The Supreme Court decided on May 5 not to hear a challenge to the federal government's approval of a major offshore wind project off the Massachusetts coast. The court's decision came without comment in an unsigned The project, known as Vineyard Wind 1, is located 15 miles off the coast of Nantucket Island. The case goes back to 2021, when the Biden administration approved dozens of wind energy generation projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts 'in a rush to replace fossil fuels as this nation's primary source of electricity,' according to the The shelf refers to all submerged land and seabed that belongs to the United States and is outside the jurisdiction or authority of individual U.S. states. The departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Defense jointly issued the environmental impact statement required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which led to approval of Vineyard Wind 1. This was 'the first of many such large-scale, industrial offshore wind energy projects slated for the OCS,' the petition said. Related Stories 9/25/2024 3/19/2024 The petitioners challenged the project, saying it was not allowed under the NEPA and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). 'The record showed the project would result in momentous adverse impacts on marine navigation, public safety, the environment, and national security,' the petition said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that allowed the project to move forward. The petitioners, who are represented by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in the petition that this decision conflicts with the Supreme Court's landmark 2024 The First Circuit did not follow established precedents and 'impermissibly deferred' to the federal government's interpretations of the NEPA and OCSLA, which created a conflict between its ruling and previous Supreme Court decisions, the petition said. The circuit court has 'unlawfully sanctioned the federal government's approval of the first of many such planned, enormous wind energy projects scheduled to industrialize the pristine waters of America's outer Continental Shelf … a decision that has grave adverse consequences for marine safety, the environment, and national security,' the petition said. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trooper hospitalized after crashing state police motorcycle in Lexington
A Massachusetts State Police trooper was hospitalized Saturday morning after crashing a state police motorcycle in Lexington. The crash occurred around 6:30 a.m. in the area of 1 Cranberry Hill, state police told MassLive. It appears the single-vehicle crash was caused by road debris, police said. The motorcycle could be seen in Hobbs Creek, WCVB reported. The trooper was brought to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to be released. The crash happened near the location of the 250th anniversary event for the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Mass. State Lottery winners: 5 tickets worth $100K won, claimed on Friday Nantucket anti-wind group petitions feds to halt Vineyard Wind 1 Trump called out for false claim about gas prices Woman struck by car while crossing street in Newburyport, police say Major toilet paper manufacturer files for bankruptcy
