Wind farm subject to lease sale

AN INTERIOR DEPARTMENT assessment of the suitability of ocean waters between Block Island (seen above) and Martha's Vineyard for the development of wind energy has been made available for public comment. After the commenting period, the department will be ready to solicit bids for leases to build wind energy farms on a large scale. / COURTESY DEEPWATER WIND
AN INTERIOR DEPARTMENT assessment of the suitability of ocean waters between Block Island (seen above) and Martha's Vineyard for the development of wind energy has been made available for public comment. After the commenting period, the department will be ready to solicit bids for leases to build wind energy farms on a large scale. / COURTESY DEEPWATER WIND

The spinning blades of wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts came one step closer to reality July 2, when the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed its preliminary environmental assessment of a loosely designated area for potential wind-farm development, located in federal waters about 18 miles southeast of Block Island.
The so-called Area of Mutual Interest is the possible home of Providence-based Deepwater Wind’s proposed 1,000 MW wind farm. But there is no guarantee Deepwater will be named as the company to construct a wind farm on the site.
BOEM still must determine if a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate or if more investigation is warranted. If the assessment is finalized after a 30-day public-comment period, the bureau can award a lease for the area.
“There will be a lease sale, an auction,” said bureau Director Tommy Beaudreau at a public-information session held in Narragansett on July 16. “After that it’s still a long process of environmental study, evaluating the potential impacts on the environment, marine life and other interests, as well as trying to develop a construction and operation plan that, if constructed, would produce significant energy.”
The federal process is a four-stage approval: planning and analysis; lease issuance, site-assessment plan approval; and approval of construction and operation.
The current first stage identifies areas to be considered for wind-energy-project leases. Once the first phase is complete, the area will be subject to an auction, where companies will compete for leases granting them permission to evaluate the underwater characteristics and submit a plan for construction.
Beaudreau estimated an advertisement for the lease sale could be published as early as September. The lease sale, or auction, will require a minimum bid that has yet to be identified. “Other considerations include the factoring in of financing, the relationship of the bidder with the state and power-purchase agreements,” Beaudreau said.
The lease will permit the collection of data at the project site that is necessary for submitting permit applications to construct a wind farm. Then, those permit applications will be subject to another round of environmental assessment and public comment. As of yet, the boundaries of the Area of Mutual Interest have yet to be finalized and BOEM is uncertain if they want to lease it as a whole or subdivide it into individual bid areas.
Jeff Grybowski, chief administrative officer for Deepwater, hopes his company has the edge over competitors when it comes to intangibles, like relationships with the state.
Deepwater has proposed a five-turbine demonstration project it hopes to build off the southeast coast of Block Island by 2014. The proposed Block Island Wind Farm could be the first offshore wind farm built in North America. The demonstration project is to be located within state waters and its permit applications are pending, expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2013.
“Of course we are hopeful that the work we have done so far and our commitment will mean something” in the leasing of the Area of Mutual Interest, he said.
BOEM’s preliminary environmental assessment is another completed milestone, allowing the department to offer the area as one of the country’s first offshore wind farm locations. “This is an important step forward in the development of the best site in the Northeast for a utility-scale offshore wind farm,” said William M. Moore, CEO of Deepwater. “We have a real opportunity to supply power from [our large wind farm] to several key markets in the region, and we’re hopeful that [the bureau] will issue a lease for this site in 2012.”
“While there is much work still to be done, the announcement allows us to move to the next stage in the leasing and permitting process,” Moore said.
Also present at the meeting were representatives of Cape Wind Associates of Boston, proposers of the Cape Wind project on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, off Cape Cod, in a different area than the one where Deepwater is proposing its project. That plan includes 130 wind turbines producing 420 MW of energy. When asked if Cape Wind would bid for the lease, Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind said, “We are simply keeping informed at this point.” BOEM issued the nation’s first commercial lease to Cape Wind in federal waters in Nantucket Sound, in October 2010. The 33-year lease will cost Cape Wind $88,278 in annual rental payments prior to energy production, and a 2 to 7 percent operating fee once production has commenced.
Deepwater has proposed selling a portion of the power generated from its proposed project to the Long Island Power Authority, as well as a transmission system linking Long Island to southern New England. The project site is within the area of mutual interest, about 165,000 acres in area, as decided by the governors of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in 2010 as suitable for offshore wind development.
Changes were made to the area itself, when Cox’s Ledge, a rich fishing ground for Rhode Island commercial fishermen, was removed from the proposed area this past February, protecting it from the building of turbines. Currently there are six alternatives to the areas of interest; a final choice will be made prior to the lease. The initial assessment banned certain portions of the WEA from leasing based on impacts to North Atlantic right whales, visual resources and telecommunications cables.
“This environmental assessment is the first of its kind in the Northeast and is based on thorough scientific and technical analysis and substantial stakeholder input to identify the most suitable location for commercial wind-energy activities in this area,” said Beaudreau.
Despite being in favor of green energy, some Rhode Island fishermen are wary of the proposed venture and its impact on fishing. Tina Jackson, president of Rhode Island-based American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities, voiced concerns about the restricted Cox’s Ledge area being too narrow to navigate and fish. She also says the area under consideration is still situated on prime fishing grounds. Cost, radar clutter, effects on the ocean bottom and bird strikes also concern fishermen.
“It’s green energy and everyone is for that, but there are still a lot of questions that are out there,” she said. •

No posts to display