Wind Power News: Massachusetts
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Next step for turbines: issuing RFQ
Taking down the town’s wind turbines is taking longer than expected. “We are still working with consultant Weston & Sampson in crafting a proposal,” Town Manager Julian M. Suso said. “It is likely going to be an RFQ [request for qualifications] rather than an RFP [request for proposals]. We are working on that, along with our legal counsel, procurement officer and Weston & Sampson. We are getting close.” Mr. Suso said the town will likely issue this request for qualifications . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines and fishing nets fight for offshore space
NORTH KINGSTON, R.I. – Port officials, state lawmakers and wind industry representatives boarded a high-speed ferry one recent morning for the one-hour trip to Block Island, the site of America’s lone offshore wind farm. The mood was buoyant. The five turbines off Block Island can generate just 30 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 17,000 homes, but they represent the potential dawn of a wind boom along the East Coast. Wind developers have signed deals with states up and down . . . Complete story »
Vineyard Wind to conduct radar survey
Vineyard Wind is poised to begin a survey of the Massachusetts fishing fleet in order to determine what types of radar various vessels have aboard. The survey is voluntary, according to Vineyard Wind spokesman Scott Farmelant. The survey comes just weeks after The Times wrote about concerns raised by fishermen over the potential effects wind turbines have on radar and a federal task force that has been looking for solutions to lessen radar interference from turbines with minimal success. “Vineyard . . . Complete story »
Edgartown, Vineyard Wind double-down
As Edgartown continues efforts to block approval of Vineyard Wind’s application for export cables off Chappaquiddick, Vineyard Wind announced it has taken major steps toward the creation of a second wind farm. In a superseding order of conditions, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection overruled the Edgartown Conservation Commission’s 5-1 vote to deny the installation of export cables in the Muskeget Channel, and determined the cables can be installed. Edgartown has appealed that decision to the DEP’s Office of Appeals . . . Complete story »
Bay State Wind vying for Massachusetts’ second wind farm
Bay State Wind, a 50/50 joint venture between Danish energy company Ørsted and New England energy company Eversource, has submitted a bid for Massachusetts’ second solicitation for commercial offshore wind. The proposal, submitted Friday, includes 400-megawatt and 800-megawatt options. Friday, Aug. 23 is the deadline for confidential bids. By Aug. 30, companies must submit public versions of those bids. Bay State Wind said its venture, which has been in development since 2015, offers “unmatched project maturity,” has demonstrated a significant . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines and radar mix poorly
As budding offshore wind development brings the U.S. to the brink of a new chapter in energy production, questions remain as to how radar interference caused by wind turbines will be diminished or eliminated. Vineyard Wind’s 84-turbine wind farm, slated for an Atlantic lease area about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, effectively had the rug pulled out from underneath it August 9, when the Department of the Interior announced the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) would hold off . . . Complete story »
Sources: Vineyard Wind decision delayed until December 2020
Final approval for the Vineyard Wind Project will likely not happen for at least another 18 months, according to information received from multiple sources by The Public’s Radio. This means the country’s first large scale offshore wind farm won’t begin construction in time to take advantage of a lucrative federal tax credit that expires at the end of the year. The Department of the Interior will decide on whether to approve construction of the Vineyard Wind project in December 2020, . . . Complete story »
Vineyard Wind review could extend into 2020
With a critical permit for the Vineyard Wind project on hold so the federal government can launch a new study of the burgeoning offshore wind industry and its potential consequences, the agency conducting that study said Tuesday its review could stretch into 2020. The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Tuesday put more detail to a plan it first announced Friday, when it sent shockwaves through the industry with its plan to hold off on . . . Complete story »
Vineyard Wind backers commit to delayed project
BOSTON – Vineyard Wind on Monday vowed that it will move forward with its $2.8 billion, 84-turbine wind farm project despite a new delay caused by the federal government, though the project will take shape on a new, yet-to-be-determined timeline. The U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Friday put a freeze on a crucial environmental impact statement for Vineyard Wind, once slated to be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in America, so they can . . . Complete story »
Vineyard Wind layout tough issue for regulators
Vineyard Wind’s turbine layout is likely one of the sticking points that prompted federal regulators late last week to expand their environmental review of the wind farm to include an analysis of how it would interact with a host of other projects in the planning stages along the East Coast. While Massachusetts politicians accused the Trump administration of delaying the project to death, officials at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have been struggling with whether to look at the . . . Complete story »
