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.
Coast Guard challenged on offshore wind traffic study
Coast Guard study that recommends against designated vessel transit lanes through New England offshore wind turbine arrays “contains serious foundational and analytical errors that merit correction,” commercial fishing advocates say in a formal objection to the findings. The Coast Guard’s Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study endorsed wind power developers’ proposal for a uniform grid layout of 1 nautical mile between turbine towers on their neighboring federal leases off southern New England. The report found fault with a . . . Complete story »
Support for 1-mile offshore wind turbine spacing in BOEM’s first ‘virtual’ public hearing
Supporters of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind energy project came out online June 26 to call on the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to approve the 800-megawatt plan in southern New England waters, with spacing turbine towers in a 1 nautical mile grid. “Vineyard Wind 1 is the most significant step we can take” for reducing carbon emissions in Massachusetts, said Tom Soldini of Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., adding that the company will provide 40 to 50 permanent . . . Complete story »
Environmental impact statement released for Vineyard Wind
Vineyard Wind, which plans to build the country’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm 15 miles south of the Island – has cleared a major hurdle on the road to development with the release of a long-sought environmental impact statement. The supplemental environmental impact statement, published on June 10 by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, examines the effects of the project in the context of “reasonably foreseeable offshore wind development” along the Atlantic coast using new fishing data and previously unanalyzed . . . Complete story »
Health board hopes to hold hearing ‘when feasible’ on wind turbines
PLYMOUTH – The wind turbines are still spinning in South Plymouth, but the Board of Health has not forgotten them. The town group continues to study the issue and collect data regarding neighbor complaints about excessive noise and other disruptions. Members unanimously voted Wednesday to hold a public hearing “when feasible” – that is, when the state of emergency is lifted and the threat of the coronavirus has passed. “We need to have a public forum with all parties present . . . Complete story »
Boston organization stirs ire of solar advocates
A shadowy Boston-based organization is sending renewable energy advocates across the country into a tizzy by challenging the logic behind one of the key subsidies that has been used to spur the growth of the solar power industry. The New England Ratepayers Association, an organization whose financial backers are unknown, filed a petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on April 14 challenging a billing practice called net metering, which is used in 45 states, including Massachusetts. Here’s how net . . . Complete story »
Study: Offshore wind farms could have “major” impact on fishing, shipping
An offshore wind farm planned for the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, combined with the “cumulative” effects of a larger build out of thousands of wind turbines off the East Coast, could have “major” impacts on the commercial fishing and shipping industries, a long-awaited federal study has found. The draft report by the Interior Department, released this week, was initially prepared as a required environmental impact statement to examine the effects of Vineyard Wind, a proposed 800-megawatt wind farm off the . . . Complete story »
Long-awaited federal report issued on Vineyard Wind
The long road to construction of what may be the nation’s first utility-scale wind farm appears to be reaching the end as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Thursday released its report on the impacts of the proposed Vineyard Wind project. The report marked the last major hurdle faced by the 800-megawatt project of 57 to 100 turbines rising nearly 500 feet at the hub from the ocean. The wind farm is located about 40 miles south of . . . Complete story »
Feds see 2,000 East Coast turbines over 10 years
Vineyard Wind I, the project that could be the first major wind farm off the American coast, took an incremental step forward in the permitting process this week when federal regulators published a long-awaited study of the potential impacts of the project and the East Coast’s rapidly-growing offshore wind sector. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) this week issued a supplement to its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind I . . . Complete story »
Feds release Vineyard Wind environmental assessment
Federal regulators on Tuesday released a detailed, 420-page environmental assessment of the proposed Vineyard Wind project that includes predictions about the future of wind energy along the East Coast and suggests the impact on commercial fishing of six possible wind farm configurations would be roughly the same. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management put Vineyard Wind on hold last year to take a look at the project through the broader lens of what’s going on in offshore wind overall along . . . Complete story »
Fishermen say Massachusetts, Oregon fail in offshore wind planning
Massachusetts commercial fishing groups objected to a proposed $19 million fund to compensate them for impacts on the industry from the planned Vineyard Wind 804-megawatt offshore wind energy project, saying the plan emerged without adequate input from the fishing community. “As far as we can tell, this plan was developed by Vineyard Wind through private meetings and consultations with officials from Massachusetts government,” the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership wrote in a May 29 to the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, . . . Complete story »
