Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2019)

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INSIGHTS: RENEWABLE ENERGY

Joan Bondareff is of counsel in Blank Rome’s Washington, D.C., of? ce who focuses her practice on marine transportation, environmental, regulatory, renewable energy, and legislative issues. She currently serves as Chair of the Virginia Offshore Wind

Development Authority (VOWDA), an appointment by Virginia Governors Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam, where she promotes offshore wind and renewable energy for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Favorable Winds for Maritime

Offshore Wind Off the Atlantic Could Be Good for Maritime Interests ow that the United States est auction. Prices for the wind have de- Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) proj- could affect the hearing of these species ? nally can envision steady clined to a levelized price of 6.5 cents ect owned by Dominion Virginia Energy during the pile-driving phase for instal- winds blowing from the per kilowatt hour in the case of the Vine- and managed by Ørsted. This project is lation of the generators and electrical

NAtlantic Seaboard due to a yard Wind project off Massachusetts. expected to come online in 2020. service platforms. In an April 30, 2019, pipeline of offshore wind farms on the Once BOEM awards the lease to the Federal Register notice (the comment horizon, the maritime industry can ? nal- highest quali? ed bidder, the agency Next Steps: Compliance with period closed on May 30, 2019), NMFS ly step up and earn some of the bene? ts. starts the National Environmental Policy Environmental Laws proposed extending a year-long IHA

This includes shipbuilding, port con- Act (NEPA) and other environmental re- We are at a critical stage for the devel- to Vineyard for this project, assuming struction, and worker training. This ar- view processes and lessees have to meet opment of these offshore wind farms. it complies with an extensive series of ticle reviews the key developments and BOEM deadlines for site assessment The developers have established op- mitigation measures, including seasonal forecasts the growth in maritime jobs. plans and construction and operation erational dates ranging from the end restrictions on pile driving, expansive

The federal and state governments plans and ? nancial commitments. (30 of 2019 to 2023 for bringing the wind clearance zones around the pile-driving share responsibility for developing off- CFR Part 585.) ashore. Some developers are racing to equipment (especially for North Atlantic shore wind farms and bringing the wind The states have a major role to play meet the 2019 deadline for compliance Rights Whales), and sound attenuation into the power grid and, ultimately, to because they have to allow the wind to with the Production Tax Credit (PTC) devices. (84 Federal Register 18346- consumers. come ashore through a series of pipe- that, unless extended by Congress, ex- 18381, April 30, 2019.)

This shared responsibility arises from lines and cables as well as approve the pires at the end of the year. Ways and Delays in completing environmental the fact that the federal government, terms of the sale to public and private Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) reviews and compliance with species through the secretary of the interior, off-takers, including utilities and state recently announced he would support laws could hamper current wind farm leases areas of the Outer Continental regulatory agencies. States can also in- such an extension. progress.

Shelf (OCS) to developers, and the states centivize the wind through Ocean Re- The developers also have to face are responsible for setting terms for the newable Energy Certi? cates (ORECs) permit and environmental law restric- Money & Jobs to Local Communities wind to be brought into the state power and other subsidies. tions, including NEPA and the Marine European developers, who learned grids and ultimately sold to consumers. The states along the Eastern Seaboard Mammal Protection Act. In most cases, the hard lessons of Cape Wind and its

Winds blow the strongest farther from are also competing for the anticipated BOEM is the lead agency for compli- NIMBY problems, have worked closely shore — hence the rush to lease Wind high-skilled jobs and, in some cases, ance with these environmental laws, with states and communities to share the

Energy Areas (WEAs) on the OCS. funding for new port projects that ac- but other agencies are consulting in the bene? ts of offshore wind. For example,

These locations also have the advantage company the offshore wind farms. These NEPA process. Ørsted and Eversource committed $4.5M of the turbines not being seen by local states acting through their governors and For example, BOEM and the National to Rhode Island, $3.5M of which will be beachgoers. state legislatures are setting very high Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have used for higher education for OSW pro-

To date, the Bureau of Ocean Energy goals for renewable energy generally almost completed an extensive review grams at the University of Rhode Island,

Management (BOEM), part of the Inte- and offshore wind in particular. For ex- of the 100-turbine Vineyard Wind proj- and $1.5M will support the development rior Department, has awarded 16 leases ample, the governor of New York’s goal ect off the coast of Massachusetts. A of Rhode Island’s offshore wind sup- to a variety of U.S. and European de- is for 9,000 megawatts (MW) of OSW Draft Environmental Impact Statement ply chain and workforce. (See https:// velopers. And more leases are due to by 2035; the governor of Rhode Island is completed; the Final Environmental nawindpower.com/Ørsted-us-offshore- be auctioned off Long Island, NY, later has set a goal of 1,000 MW of clean en- Impact Statement will be issued shortly; wind-eversource-pledge-4-5m-for- this year. European developers such as ergy projects by the end of 2020; and the and NMFS has proposed to issue a one- rhode-island.) Ørsted and Eversource

Ørsted, Equinor, Copenhagen Infrastruc- Massachusetts legislature has created year extension of an Incidental Harass- also worked with the Connecticut Port ture Partners, and Avangrid Renewables a goal of 3,200 MW of OSW by 2035. ment Authorization (IHA) to Vineyard Authority to commit $225M to upgrade have brought their extensive European Finally, in Virginia, the state legislature Wind, LLC, allowing Vineyard to harass a state pier in New London, Connecticut, experience with them, enabling them to declared 3,000 MW of OSW to be in the certain marine mammals pursuant to the making it usable for assembly and instal- bid on and manage U.S. wind farms at public interest, allowing (some say re- Marine Mammal Protection Act due to lation of wind turbines. competitive rates. These leases range in quiring) the State Corporation Commis- the presence of migrating whales, seals, State legislatures also provide funds value from $1.5M to $135M at the lat- sion to approve the two-turbine Coastal and dolphins near the project site that for workforce and supply chain develop- 16 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2019

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