New York governor hails ‘milestone’ of first offshore wind farm, as Danish giant shows America how to do clean energy

BYJENNIFER MCDERMOTT AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 7, 2023 

A generator and its blades are tugged at sea leaving State Pier in New London, Conn., Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, heading to South Fork Wind farm.
AP PHOTO/TED SHAFFREY

Despite some recent financial setbacks, U.S. offshore windpower has hit a milestone. An 800-foot tall turbine is now sending electricity onto the grid from a commercial-scale offshore wind farm on pace to be the country’s first.

The moment is years in the making and at the same time a modest advance in what experts say needs to be a major buildout of this type of clean electricity to address climate change.

Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource announced Wednesday the first electricity from what will be a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York. It will be New York’s first offshore wind farm.

Ørsted and Eversource met Wednesday with New York officials to celebrate this “first power” milestone, in East Hampton, New York, where the wind farm connects to the onshore electric grid. They say the achievement builds a foundation for other large U.S. offshore wind farms that will follow.

So far, two of the 11-megawatt turbines are up. The second is undergoing testing, then it can begin producing power too. When the other ten are spinning and South Fork opens by early next year, it will be able to generate 132 megawatts of offshore wind energy to power more than 70,000 homes.

The first power announcement is “an incredible moment in the American clean energy story,” said Stephanie McClellan, executive director of the nonprofit Turn Forward, which advocates for offshore wind. She said South Fork will be a source of clean, reliable, domestically-produced energy.

“This is just the beginning of what offshore wind can do,” she said in a statement.

Offshore wind is central to New York’s plan to transition to a carbon-free electricity system by 2040. The state aims to install 9 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

“New York’s nation-leading efforts to generate reliable, renewable clean energy have reached a major milestone,” New York Gov. Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement Wednesday. “South Fork Wind will power thousands of homes, create good-paying union jobs and demonstrate to all that offshore wind is a viable resource New York can harness for generations to come.”

Some Long Island residents at first objected on both environmental and aesthetic grounds to the transmission line running through their community. In a lawsuit four alleged that trenching under roads would spread contaminated groundwater. A judge dismissed their complaint in July.

The project has also overcome objections from fishermen and some environmentalists. Fishermen said they were not adequately compensated for their loss of fishing grounds. The group Save The Bay said the energy project shouldn’t be placed near such a rich diversity of fish.

Business groups and construction unions backed the project.

Large offshore wind farms have been making electricity for three decades in Europe, and more recently in Asia. The first U.S. offshore wind farm was supposed to be a project off the coast of Massachusetts known as Cape Wind. The application was submitted to the federal government in 2001. It failed after years of local opposition and litigation.

Turbines began turning off Rhode Island’s Block Island in 2016. But with just five of them, it’s not a commercial-scale wind farm.

Currently there are two commercial offshore wind farms under construction in the United States, South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind. Vineyard Wind will be a 62-turbine wind farm 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the coast of Massachusetts. It has not started generating power yet, the developer said Monday. They’re installing and testing five turbines first.

At State Pier in New London, Connecticut, blades and massive tower sections for South Fork are lined up, ready to leave port for the sea where they’ll be erected in the coming weeks. The nacelles that house the generator for each wind turbine are there, too.

On Monday, a barge carrying three blades and a nacelle for the third turbine left port. As Jeff Martin, of Eversource, watched, he said it was a “joy” to see the industry finally move from concept to fruition in the United States, to help reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.

“Finally we’re taking this step to catch up with the rest of the world and do our part to collectively address climate change,” said Martin, Eversource’s director of business development for the offshore wind group.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are a linchpin of government plans to shift to renewable energy in populous East Coast states with limited land for wind turbines or solar arrays. The Biden administration aims to power 10 million homes with offshore wind by 2030 and establish a carbon-free electric grid five years later.

But the industry has had hard times recently. Ørsted announced it’s cancelling two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey due to problems with supply chains, higher interest rates and a failure to obtain the amount of tax credits the company wanted. Developers in New England recently canceled power contacts too, saying their projects were no longer financially feasible. The series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry jeopardizes the clean energy goals.

Other projects though, are advancing. Ørsted is moving forward with Eversource on construction of Revolution Wind, Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm. The 704-megawatt project will power roughly 400,000 homes. Tower sections, blades and nacelles are expected to begin arriving in New London as early as this spring.

South Fork and Revolution Wind are a “bright spot for a challenged industry,” said David Hardy, group executive vice president and CEO Americas at Ørsted.

“As we demonstrate that we can build this project and build Revolution, then people will realize the real opportunity of offshore wind,” he said.

Revolution Wind: A Leap Forward in U.S. Offshore Wind Power

By: BNN Correspondents
Published: December 8, 2023 


The U.S. Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council has given the green light to Revolution Wind, a $1.5 billion offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. This ambitious project, helmed by Danish company Orsted and U.S.-based Eversource, aims to generate a staggering 704 megawatts of clean energy for Connecticut and Rhode Island. This new venture dovetails with the Biden administration’s emphasis on offshore wind power, despite mounting challenges, including inflation, high interest rates, and supply chain delays, that have cast a shadow over the goal to establish 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.

Revolution Wind: A Beacon for Renewable Energy

Revolution Wind stands as the fruit of international collaboration, with Danish company Orsted and U.S-based Eversource at the helm. The project carries a price tag of $1.5 billion and promises to supply a whopping 704 megawatts of clean energy to Connecticut and Rhode Island. Its approval by the U.S Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council marks a significant stride in the nation’s journey towards harnessing offshore wind power.

South Fork: A Testament to Progress

Against a backdrop of financial turmoil in the U.S. offshore wind energy market, the South Fork wind farm off the coast of New York stands as a beacon of progress. Developed by Orsted and Eversource, the farm has been supplying power to the state’s grid, becoming the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. This milestone marks a significant advance in the country’s clean energy transition, despite the industry’s recent financial setbacks.

Challenges on the Horizon

While the strides made in offshore wind power are commendable, the journey is not without its hurdles. Rising inflation, high interest rates, and supply chain delays threaten to derail the Biden administration’s goal of bringing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power online by 2030. The escalating costs have forced many developers to cancel or renegotiate power purchase contracts, as investment costs have become untenable with previously agreed prices. As the sector navigates these turbulent waters, the focus remains on the ultimate goal: a future powered by clean, renewable energy.

Clean Energy

NY Project Produces America's First Utility Scale Wind Power

By Debra K. Rubin

Power was transmitted from an 11-MW turbine just installed at the South Fork offshore wind project off Long Island, N.Y.—the first from a US utility scale facility.

Photo: Courtesy of South Fork

December 7, 2023

Despite financial gyrations in the U.S. offshore wind energy market that have caused project delays and cancellations over the past two years, America now has joined other world nations in having energy generated for the first time from a utility-scale facility.

That U.S. clean energy milestone was reached with the early December announcement that the 132-MW South Fork project off New York successfully sent power to the state grid, in reaching its onshore connection point in East Hampton, Long Island. The estimated $627-million project is located 35 miles east of Montauk.

“New York's nation-leading efforts to generate reliable, renewable clean energy have reached a major milestone," said Gov. Kathy Hochul, stating that it will eliminate up to 6 million tons of carbon emissions each year. “South Fork Wind will … demonstrate to all that offshore wind is a viable resource New York can harness for generations to come."

Two of 12 Siemens Gamesa-made turbines that will power the project being built by a joint venture of developer Orsted and Connecticut utility Eversource, were installed —with the remaining 11-MW structures to follow through early 2024, the team estimates.

Kiewit-made offshore substation for South Fork project off Long Island, N.Y. was installed earlier this year.
Photo: Courtesy of Orsted

The project would be the first completed in New York, which has set an aggressive goal of 9 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035. Project work, based at the port of New London, Conn., also includes installation of the project's offshore substation fabricated by Kiewit in its Texas yard—the first to be made in the U.S.

The project's 68-mile high-voltage, alternating current export cable was also the first to be domestically produced, manufactured by France-based Nexans at its expanded Charleston, S.C., plant. Installation was done by Belgium-based firm DEME and Dutch marine engineer Boskalis.

Nexans also said in November it has a “framework agreement” with Orsted and Eversource to manufacture cable for the 704-MW Revolution Wind project that will supply power to Rhode Island and Connecticut. "The completion of the work at South Fork Wind Farm is a monumental step in the U.S. energy transition,” said Pascal Radue, executive vice president of Nexans' generation and transmission business group. “We are looking forward to continuing work in the state and in the broader region."

Monopile foundation installation was done by a Netherlands-flagged vessel, Aeolus, with components delivered by barges, as mandated under U.S. law. Long Island-based contractor Haugland Energy Group LLC installed the duct bank system for South Fork Wind’s onshore transmission line connecting to the Long Island Power Authority grid and led construction of the onshore interconnection facility.  LS Cable installed and jointed onshore cables, with support from Elecnor Hawkeye.

Energy Transition Lead

The project's power generation “represents years of hard work, vision, and the courage to lead in our energy transition," said New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris. “East Hampton has now made history as the first community in New York to receive clean energy from an offshore wind farm," said David Hardy, Orsted Americas CEO. Some residents had opposed the cable routing plan.

In Massachusetts, the 800-MW Vineyard Wind project, which was first in the U.S. to be permitted and start construction, said it has installed five of 62 planned 13-MW GE-manufactured turbines. Developers Avangrid and Vineyard Offshore, a unit of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said these are being tested and could deliver power by year end to the New England electric grid.

Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said the estimated $3-billion project "is working through the final technical requirements" to start the power flow. 

Despite approval process roadblocks during the Trump Administration for South Fork and Vineyard Wind, their earlier starts enabled them to lock in financing and supply chain costs before more recent inflation-generated increases that have caused project delays—as well as cancellations of project power agreements in Massachusetts and Connecticut and of two projects in New Jersey.

Massachusetts recently formed a pact with Rhode Island and Connecticut to better coordinate developer proposal selection and enable potential cross-border sharing of port, manufacturing and other supply chain investments.  

With New York still facing cancellation of another Orsted project and one awarded to Equinor-BP—totaling 4 GW—after state regulators would not allow power price adjustments, officials recently ramped up project awards and launched a new procurement round ending early next year to insure capacity. 

Earlier approved projects would be allowed to rebid projects at higher prices, according to NYSERDA.

Also, U.S. Treasury Dept. rules proposed last month clarified that federal investment tax credits would be extended to subsea cables and onshore power treatment facilities under the Inflation Reduction Act. But the incentives do not apply to third-party-owned offshore transmission assets, such as planned mesh systems that sector proponents say offer cost savings in linking multiple projects, according to a Dec. 7 report in industry publication Recharge.

A five-turbine, 30-MW project open since 2017 near Block Island, R.I. is the nation's first operating offshore wind energy facility but it is not utility scale. A 12-MW pilot project also operates off the coast of Virginia.

16,000 Extra Workers Needed in UK’s Offshore Wind Sector by 2030

By portnews
December 8, 2023




Source: ECITB

A new labor forecasting tool (LFT) is predicting around 16,000 additional workers could be needed in the UK’s offshore wind industry by 2030, and 12,000 extra workers will be needed specifically for carbon capture and hydrogen projectsby 2027.

It also highlights a significant increase in demand for workers in the West of Shetland oil and gas basin.

The new resource, the first of its kind to focus on the engineering construction industry (ECI), provides insights into workforce numbers across regions and sectors, including oil and gas, up to 2035, predicting trends and potential future demand for workers.

It predicts the demand for new workers across the engineering construction industry by 2028 is much higher than previously thought. This includes mechanical and electrical engineers, scaffolders, process engineers, project managers, pipefitters, welders, and instrument and control technicians.

The LFT has been developed by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and Whole Life Consultants with the support of a technical reference group comprising key industry stakeholders.

The tool has been created using insights from the ECITB 2021 Workforce Census and data from 1,500 active and future ECI projects.

Among its initial findings, the LFT highlights that the offshore wind sector could see a 75% increase in demand for workers between 2023 and 2030, with no significant reduction until at least 2035, when the sector could account for 27% of the overall ECI workforce.

Of the nearly 8,000 additional workers potentially needed across the ECI to meet demand in 2024 alone, 40% of them could be required to work on offshore wind projects and 25% could work on thepre-construction phases of hydrogen and carbon capture projects.

The southern North Sea is the current main hotspot for offshore wind, with 36% of demand resulting from activity in this area. By 2035, the tool shows that activity could increase significantly in the Moray Firth (from 9% of demand in 2023 to 16%) and the Northern North Sea (from 5% to 26%).

The LFT also highlights that demand for oil and gas activity could shift significantly from the North Sea to the West of Shetland basin. Projects in this region could drive up to 20% of the demand for workers in the oil and gas sector by 2035.

The oil and gas sector is the largest in which engineering construction contractors operate, accounting for 32% of the ECI workforce in 2023.

However, the tool shows this could fall to 20% by 2035 due to a combination of a rise in other ECI sectors and a decline in production, with the LFT predicting a 30% decline in the oil and gas workforce between 2023 and 2035. These predictions are, however, based on data from the pipeline of projects known at this time.

ECITB Chief Executive Andrew Hockey said: “Attracting new entrants is a key priority for industry and the ECITB which is why half of the ECITB training grant budget is dedicated to new entrants.”

Canada cuts red tape to boost wind off Atlantic Coast

By Bloomberg
06/12/2023
© Supplied by BP

Cape Spear Lighthouse. Canada.

Canada is dismantling regulatory hurdles for offshore wind projects along its Atlantic coast, aiming to transform one of the world’s longest and gustiest shorelines into a renewable energy leader despite the industry’s current slump.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government agreed Wednesday to hand over control of land tenure and regulation for projects within Newfoundland and Labrador’s inland bays to the provincial government.

The move will create stability for investors and streamline permitting processes that can be plagued by “way too much duplication” between levels of government, Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said in an interview.

O’Regan, who represents a Newfoundland district in Parliament and is a former natural resources minister, said the current moment – and potential for wind energy to deliver generational benefits to Atlantic Canadians — is akin to the first major discovery of oil off the province’s coast several decades ago.

“We’ve got lots of wind and we’ve got a workforce that really knows how to work in the energy industry,” he said. “We’ve got huge assets.”

Yet Canada lacks a single offshore turbine. The nation is not only starting from behind, but also as the offshore wind industry grapples with rising costs, supply chain kinks and higher interest rates. The neighboring US has seen multiple offshore wind project derailed, endangering President Joe Biden’s ambitious target of having 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

O’Regan is unfazed. “It’s a medium-long term play,” he said, comparing the slump in wind energy to fluctuations in oil prices that Canadians are used to. “There’ll be hiccups because of commodities.”

Allowing Newfoundland to take the lead on regulating projects is possible because of the Atlantic Accord, an agreement signed in 1985 between Canada and the province on managing offshore oil.

The federal government introduced amendments to the accord in May to allow the province’s offshore oil regulator to also oversee wind energy.

Furey signs agreement to put development of offshore wind energy in N.L. hands

Change relies on Bill C-49 passing in Parliament

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News · Posted: Dec 07, 2023 

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Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey says a memorandum of understanding signed by the province and the federal government will provide clarity for investors and the world market looking for renewable energy. (Government of Canada)

Newfoundland and Labrador is positioning itself as the primary benefactor and regulator when it comes to offshore wind developments in the province — but the deal hinges on federal legislation passing in Ottawa.

The memorandum of understanding with the federal government identifies 16 bays as exclusive provincial jurisdiction, allowing the province to develop wind farms as though they were on land.

"This crucial federal-provincial agreement puts us in the driver's seat and will allow us to reap the majority benefit from the endless possibilities of the new green economy," Premier Andrew Furey said Wednesday.

The deal will ensure N.L. is the one to regulate its renewable energy developments within the province's waters while clearly signalling to investors that the bays will be under N.L. control, he said. It will also guarantee the province will benefit from its resources.

"These changes will ensure a fiscal framework that provides the maximum economic returns to Newfoundland and Labrador," said Furey.

Provide certainty

Offshore wind development is tied up with the passing of Bill C-49, which would enable offshore boards to regulate renewable energy as if it were oil.

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the bill is being filibustered, getting in a dig in at federal Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.

"To be honest, I just do not understand Mr. Poilievre and why his Atlantic MPs would decide to oppose and to stall a bill that is supported by Premier Furey and [Nova Scotia] Premier [Tim] Houston and is intended to enable the development of … a huge economic opportunity for Atlantic Canada," he said.

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When asked if the memorandum of understanding will still take effect if Bill C-49 doesn't pass, Wilkinson didn't provide a clear answer. Furey also didn't directly answer but reiterated that the memorandum will provide certainty for the province and investors.

CBC News asked provincial Industry, Energy and Technology Department spokesperson Tansy Mundon the same question but she referred all questions to Natural Resources Canada.

Federal Energy and Natural Resources spokesperson Carolyn Svonkin told CBC News Thursday that the MOU gives certainty for investors and stakeholders on how the wind energy off Newfoundland's coast will be regulated.

"These co-ordinates will then be set out in regulations under the Accord Acts, once Bill C-49 is enacted. This is how the offshore area is defined in the Canada-Nova Scotia Atlantic Accord Implementation Act," she said in an emailed statement.

As a result, Bill C-49 has to pass before the MOU can come into full effect, she added.

Message to world market

Wilkinson said there are economic opportunities in the move to low-carbon emissions and Canada is well positioned to enter the market with a skilled workforce, technology and resources.

"With world-class wind resources and considerable geographic advantages, Newfoundland and Labrador has the potential to build a thriving offshore wind sector that will be well positioned to support both the growing demand for clean electricity and a globally competitive hydrogen export industry," said Wilkinson.

He said Canada and N.L. are sending the global markets a clear signal that the country wants to be a trusted supplier of clean energy.

Furey signed an memorandum of understanding with the federal government, identifying 16 bays for offshore wind development under the province's control.

---

There is a choice when it comes to navigating the future and Canada might be left behind if it fails to act, he warned.

"We can choose to lead by recognizing where the world is heading and aggressively pursuing those opportunities that will be enabled through a transition to a low carbon future," he said.

The other option is to ignore the green economy shift and fall behind.

Furey also said the provincial government is currently assessing four proposals for onshore wind hydrogen projects that will have an estimated 35 to 40 years of work, an estimated $206.2 billion in gross domestic product and bring in an additional $11.7 billion in revenue, $60 billion in total capital spent, and 12,000 jobs.

"And that is just on land. Now we look to the ocean."

Furey on fishing concerns

Furey said Wednesday's announcement was about ensuring the province will be in control of its offshore wind developments but added there are many more conversations to be had.

"Today is … recognition that these will be exclusively ours. I never said that we would develop all of them. I never said how the consultation process will go with fishermen or indigenous partners alike," he said.

There will be efforts to protect the fishery and a consultation process with Indigenous partners, he said.

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the world is moving toward a green economy and Canada should seize the initiative. (Government of Canda)

Prior to the MOU, said Furey, the government couldn't move forward with offshore wind development because it was unclear who would govern it.

"Now we have clarity on the inshore piece and the offshore piece and we will work together, of course, with the [Fish, Food & Allied Workers], with fish harvesters and processors alike," said Furey.

Furey also announced the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board's name will change to the Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Energy Regulator, while also expanding its mandate to become the lead regulatory body for offshore energy outside provincial jurisdiction.

These offshore developments will be jointly managed by the province and federal government.

Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Advance Offshore Wind Power and Good Jobs 


NEWS PROVIDED BY Natural Resources Canada

OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 6, 2023 /CNW/ - Energy systems across the world are rapidly transforming, and offshore wind development will create sustainable jobs and help power Canada's economy. With the longest coastlines in the world, Canada is well positioned to become a global leader in the $1-trillion global offshore wind energy market, particularly in Atlantic Canada.

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Dr. Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on offshore wind to enable Newfoundland and Labrador to take the regulatory lead on offshore wind projects within its inland bays to enable the development of offshore wind projects in Newfoundland that will power Newfoundland's economy forward. They were joined by the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Rural Economic Development, and the Honourable Seamus O'Regan, Minister responsible for Labour and Seniors.

The MOU establishes a clear process for Newfoundland and Labrador to administer land tenure and life-cycle regulation. Recognizing that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has ambitious growth plans and wants to move ahead quickly, this agreement will allow the province to dictate the speed and pace of development in the bays. With the predictable and efficient approach presented by the MOU, our governments are sending a direct signal to investors, workers and communities that Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador are collaborating to unlock offshore renewable energy development within provincial bays while affirming our shared commitment to joint management under the Atlantic Accord Acts as part of a thriving and sustainable offshore energy sector in the province.

The MOU outlines the framework for Newfoundland and Labrador to administer land tenure and life-cycle regulation, including revenues for offshore renewable energy projects within provincial bays. The MOU announced today is made possible by Bill C-49, which establishes the legislative framework for offshore wind in the joint-management areas. Land tenure and life-cycle regulation of existing offshore energy activity, as well as offshore renewable energy projects located beyond the bays, will be regulated by the Offshore Energy Regulator, according to the authorities set out under the Atlantic Accord Acts and as amended by Bill C-49. This approach builds on our long-standing commitment to collaboration with our joint management partners, including through Bill C-49 and the Regional Assessments for Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.

Together, Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador are taking another important step forward to ensure a thriving offshore energy sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, while contributing to our shared goal of creating sustainable jobs, developing a net-zero electricity system by 2035 and developing a net-zero economy in 2050.
Quotes

"Newfoundland and Labrador is rich in renewable energy resources that make us well positioned to meet our net-zero targets, mitigate the impacts of climate change and grow clean energy jobs and economic development. Our government will continue to ensure Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are the principal beneficiaries of our valuable resources. This MOU recognizes waters within provincial bays and will expedite the development of renewable energy in our province."

The Honourable Andrew Furey
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador

"Newfoundland and Labrador have incredible offshore wind potential, and Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador are seizing this economic opportunity. Today's agreement with the province furthers our ability to attract investments and create good-paying jobs in Newfoundland's offshore by establishing a framework to enable the province to move ahead with its ambitious renewable energy development plans. Combined with significant federal investments in renewable energy and our work to strengthen the Accord Acts, we are furthering Canada's commitment to build a strong and attractive renewable energy sector in Newfoundland and Labrador for decades to come."

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson 
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

"This MOU allows the province to continue to move forward with the development of renewable energy while providing clarity and certainty around the land that is jointly managed and that is within provincial bays."

The Honourable Andrew Parsons
Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

"The world has taken notice of Newfoundland and Labrador's incredible natural resources and our dedicated workforce. This agreement positions our province as a supplier of choice for the net-zero future and secures good jobs for workers across our province."

The Honourable Gudie Hutchings
Minister of Rural Economic Development
Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

"Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are the principal beneficiary of our resources in the Offshore oil and gas industry. We want to do the same for Offshore wind. This MOU and amendments to the Atlantic Accords will help our Province lead the world in offshore renewable energy."

The Honourable Seamus O'Regan,
Minister of Labour and Seniors

"This MOU between the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador marks an important step toward catalyzing an offshore wind industry in the province. With a Regional Assessment of offshore wind underway, green hydrogen facilities under development and now this MOU, Newfoundland is laying a strong foundation for a locally driven offshore wind sector. Marine Renewables Canada looks forward to working with both governments and its members throughout the offshore wind supply chain to advance this promising industry."

Elisa Obermann
Executive Director, Marine Renewables Canada
Associated links If you would like a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, please contact media@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

Budget 2023
Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador Announce Intent to Expand the Mandate of Offshore Energy Regime to Support the Transition to a Clean Economy and Create Sustainable Jobs
Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador launch regional assessment to support future decisions on offshore wind projects in the province
The Accord Acts and the Joint Management Regimes in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

California wants offshore wind power. But what of East Coast woes?

 by Kathy D. Woodward

Wind turbines at the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, off the coast of the Guerande peninsula in western France. The Saint-Nazaire facility is France’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm
(Stephane Mahe / Associated Press)

Although multiple offshore wind energy projects on the East Coast have been jeopardized or pulled off the table, California policymakers say they remain confident that a veritable bonanza of electrical power will be captured off the coast of the Golden State.

“I see it as a fundamental piece of our energy policy over the next 30 years in California,” said David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission.

To help meet the state’s target of deriving 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045, California energy officials have set goals for offshore wind to generate as much as 5 gigawatts of power by 2030 and 25 gigawatts by 2045. For perspective, the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo produces 2.2 gigawatts of capacity, which accounts for about 9% of the state’s power mix each year.

Creating a California offshore wind industry from scratch will be a major technological, logistical and financial challenge, but it’s a crucial component to a state electric grid that looks to increasingly rely on renewable energy sources.

Solar power generation is abundant during the daylight hours, but as the sun goes down, the grid comes under strain, especially on hot days when customers across the state crank up their air conditioners. Megawatts of power from natural gas plants help fill in the gaps, but natural gas is a fossil fuel.

Offshore wind, on the other hand, does not emit greenhouse gases. Plus, the California Energy Commission says studies indicate that production from offshore wind is strong between the crucial hours of 4 and 9 p.m., when the grid needs it the most.

“The characteristics of this clean energy resource that we have right off our coast complements the onshore wind and solar that we already have,” said Adam Stern, executive director of Offshore Wind California, an industry trade group.

But problems have cropped up in recent months in the Northeast.

Orsted, a Danish multinational energy company and major player in the wind energy industry, recently canceled two wind farms along the coast of New Jersey. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company may need to cancel more projects to shore up its balance sheet.

BP and Equinor have threatened to pull out of offshore projects in New York, leading state officials to reopen the bidding process.

The trouble stems from higher interest rates that have increased financial costs, plus inflation that has driven up prices for turbines, steel and labor costs.

But at a two-day offshore wind conference in San Diego recently, developers said they’re still bullish on building projects in California and on the West Coast.

“We are here for the long term,” Martin Goff, Equinor’s project director for offshore wind in California, said during a break at the conference, sponsored by Reuters. “We want to develop an industry out here — it’s not just one project.”

Equinor is one of five companies that collectively bid $751.1 million last year to lease tens of thousands of acres off the coast of California in an auction overseen by the federal government.

Goff said the company’s Hywind Tampen facility that supplies electricity to Equinor’s oil and gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea is the largest floating wind farm in the world.

“It’s proven technology,” Goff said.

Unlike on the East Coast, where turbines can be bolted into the seabed, the continental shelf off the coast of the Pacific plunges steeply.

That means offshore wind farms in California must float on the water’s surface, tethered or moored by cables to the ocean floor. Electricity generated by turbines will be transmitted to a floating substation and carried to a power plant onshore via buried cables, adding layers of complexity and expense.

California will be the first region in the U.S. to use floating wind turbines.

The potential technical challenges, combined with the recent financial headlines out of the Northeast, have fueled arguments from skeptics.

“If it’s not going to work on the East Coast, it’s not going to work in California,” said Robert Bryce, author of several books on energy and a vocal wind industry critic. “Anytime you put anything in saltwater, the cost goes up by a factor of 2, 3, 4 times. It’s a hostile environment. … It’s expensive, it’s intermittent, it’s not durable.”

Hochschild, of the California Energy Commission, said, “I wouldn’t lose the forest for the trees.”

“With all clean energy technologies in the market today, the long-term price trend is downward,” he said. “But it’s marked by periodic departures from that and upward ticks, which we’re seeing now in offshore wind for the moment because of emerging issues.”

Although final designs are still to be submitted, the turbines will soar hundreds of feet high, with blades larger than a football field to harvest the maximum amount of wind. Hochschild said the offshore leases in California are located on sites 20 to 60 miles from the mainland.

The wind farms are proposed to be built off the coasts of Morro Bay in Central California and Humboldt County in Northern California.

There are no plans to build offshore wind projects off the Southern California coast.

Wind speeds in the south are not as steady and strong as the breezes in Central and Northern California. Plus, military officials, in discussions with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, designated Southern California a “wind exclusion” area because they worry that offshore wind facilities would interfere with training missions.

That said, San Diego’s General Dynamics NASSCO announced earlier this year that it will compete for contracts to build the installation and support ships that will be needed to create the turbines for West Coast offshore projects, with a focus on California.

The company will do so in a partnership with Navantia, a Spanish state-owned shipbuilder that already has experience in the offshore wind energy market.

Nikolewski writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Union-Tribune staff writer Gary Robbins contributed to this report.

Detoxifying Artisanal Gold Mining

by Michigan State University

A miner's hand holds a pebble-sized bit of mercury-covered gold ore over a bowl of water. The picture was taken at a small-scale gold mine in Senegal. 

Credit: Jacqueline Gerson

Jacqueline "Jackie" Gerson knows very well how "artisanal gold mining" sounds to people who haven't heard the phrase before

"It sounds quaint, right?" asked the assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences in Michigan State University's College of Natural Science.

But that innocuous name belies the dangers of a practice that exposes miners and their communities to a poisonous chemical that's been banned by an international treaty. So, when Gerson thinks of artisanal gold mining, her mental image is anything but quaint.

"I think of it like the Wild West days in the United States," said Gerson. "During the gold rush here, people were using mercury to extract gold. That's exactly what's happening now in these artisanal and small-scale gold mines."

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining, abbreviated ASGM, supplies about 20% of the gold bought and sold around the world, said Gerson. Gerson is also a faculty member with the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, or EEB, program at MSU.

At the same time, ASGM accounts for 40% of the global emissions of mercury—a neurotoxic metal—into the atmosphere. That's more than any other source, including the burning of fossil fuels, which are naturally laced with trace amounts of mercury.

What becomes of that atmospheric mercury largely remains a mystery. To better understand the fate of this heavy, unhealthy metal, Gerson, her lab and her colleagues have been awarded a grant.

In the meantime, she's also part of a team that's been working with miners and their communities to reduce mercury emissions. And they have piloted an approach that can do just that, which they have now reported in the journal Cleaner Production Letters.

Assistant Professor Jacqueline "Jackie" Gerson of Michigan State University is working with artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities in Senegal and other countries to better understand and reduce the mining's health risks. 

Credit: Jacqueline Gerson

What is artisanal mining?

In the context of mining, "artisanal" is all about the word's denotation, rather than its charming connotations that we tend to associate with things like cheese, chocolate and coffee.

"Artisanal means the miners are using very rudimentary approaches, without modern technology," Gerson said. "And they're small-scale, meaning small groups of people, but in a given community, there can be hundreds or thousands of people mining."

Miners dig up ore and sediment containing gold, then add mercury to help extract the precious metal. They then burn the mercury off—often in huts where miners and their families live—leaving the gold behind.

The process is cheap, easy and accessible. That's why miners used it over a century ago during the gold rush in the U.S. What's different today is that mercury is outlawed.

"Artisanal mines are almost always illegal," Gerson said. "But miners can buy mercury on the black market."

In 2013, more than 140 countries signed a United Nations treaty called the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which went into effect in 2017 to curb mercury emissions, including those from ASGM.

The treaty is named after the Japanese city of Minamata, where, in the mid-20th century, thousands of residents were poisoned by mercury from industrial pollution. The exposure led to many adverse health outcomes including death, paralysis and neurological disease.

Today, mercury poisoning typically isn't something people in the U.S. or other developed and densely populated countries worry about (a notable exception is people who are pregnant and must avoid certain types of seafood that can have elevated levels of mercury, which disrupts fetal development).

In developing nations and remote areas, however, ASGM operations can thrive because of lax or nonexistent regulatory enforcement. Artisanal gold mines are operating in more than 70 countries worldwide, mostly in the southern hemisphere.

Artisanal and small-scale miners sell their gold to dealers who introduce it into the global supply, where it's indistinguishable from gold mined in accordance with the Minamata Convention. That means, if you own gold jewelry, some of that metal probably came from artisanal gold mines.

"They are a major source of gold," Gerson said. "It's a global issue, and we're all part of it, whether we want to admit it or not."

Research from Michigan State University shows that education provided by trusted sources in a community can be a potent intervention strategy for reducing mercury usage in and emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining. 

Credit: Falaye Danfakha

Miners pose for a photo near a dug-out mining pit under a blue tarp held up by a frame made from logs and branches. Credit: Jacqueline Gerson

Research from Michigan State University shows that education provided by trusted sources in a community can be a potent intervention strategy for reducing mercury usage in and emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining. 

Credit: Falaye Danfakha

Miners pose for a photo near a dug-out mining pit under a blue tarp held up by a frame made from logs and branches. 

Credit: Jacqueline Gerson


Making mining safer

Although most artisanal miners understand that the mercury they work with is dangerous, they accept that risk to support themselves and their families.

Researchers have been working to try and help these miners keep their livelihoods while reducing its associated health risks. Most new approaches, however, focus on replacing mercury with techniques or technologies that are more expensive or harder to use than the toxic metal.

"Getting rid of the mercury is the most ideal solution," Gerson said. "But studies show these approaches just aren't being picked up."

So, Gerson decided to try a different approach working with collaborators at Colorado State University, the Peace Corps and Duke University. Gerson started this work while she was a doctoral student at Duke, and the project was supported by the Duke University Global Health Institute and World Connect.

The researchers' approach started with talking with miners in Senegal to identify emission-reducing opportunities that would stick. Using what they learned, the team developed an approach based on two pillars.

The first was an educational program, delivered by trusted, local community members about the dangers of mercury, the symptoms of exposure and ways miners could protect themselves.

The instructors also shared information about the second pillar, devices known as retorts.

Retorts are metal enclosures that allow miners to burn the mercury off from gold without releasing vapors into the atmosphere. Instead, the vapors are collected and exhausted into a bucket of water, where the mercury condenses and can be retrieved.

Local metal workers built the retorts for the study using readily available materials and a design provided by the research team that also incorporated tweaks from the miners.

The team worked with nine mining communities to measure the effects of these interventions. Three of the communities received both the education and retorts, three received education only and three provided a control group—that is, they received neither the education nor the retorts.

This enabled the team to conclusively demonstrate that providing education and retorts worked. Miners were more aware of the dangers of mercury and how they could limit their exposure. They used mercury less and, when they did, they used retorts more.

And that wasn't all.

"These effects permeated into the control villages," Gerson said. "There was this sort of social spillover where people were sharing the education and the retorts."

Based on the project's success in Senegal, Gerson believes the approach could be extended to mining operations in other countries to further curb emissions. But she stressed that it has to be the entire approach, not just the solutions they found in Senegal.

"Miners have to be involved from the beginning to identify specific solutions that will work in their unique physical and social environments," Gerson said.

Artisanal mining in Senegal is different from artisanal mining in Peru, for example. So the specific techniques that worked in Senegal may not work in Peru, but the approach of working with miners and their neighbors to find trustworthy solutions will translate.

"That's a theme in my work," Gerson said. "We have to collaborate with the people who are living and working in these places if we're going to be successful."

Artisanal gold miners work with a retort constructed out of metal. Credit: Falaye Danfakha

Miners pose for a photo while one pours an earth-toned liquid through a strainer and down a sluice to separate out the fine-scale gold-laden sediment from larger soil particles. By collaborating with mining communities in Senegal, Michigan State University researchers were part of a team that found practical solutions to reduce mercury emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Credit: Jacqueline Gerson

An artisanal gold miner burns mercury off a gold-mercury amalgam using a blow torch on the floor of a hut. Credit: Jacqueline Gerson

'That's what we hope, but we don't know'

That theme is also evident in Gerson's grant, which is a collaboration led by Gerson, Associate Professor Heidi Hausermann at Colorado State University and Professor Richard Amankwah, who is the vice chancellor at the University of Mines and Technology in Ghana.

Hausermann, who was also an author on the new Cleaner Production Letters report, has been working with Ghanaian collaborators on ASGM research for a dozen years. Amankwah is a mining engineering and ASGM expert who also has served as a consultant for the World Bank, the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Together, they're trying to answer large, looming questions about where mercury emissions from ASGM go and how and whether these mercury emissions can enter the food web through crops.

This knowledge could help create policies and practices to better protect miners, their neighbors and nearby communities.

"Locally and regionally, we don't know where a lot of that mercury goes once it's emitted," Gerson said. "The question is whether crops are taking it up in their leaves or through their roots, and it could be that they don't. That'd be great. In fact, that's what we hope, but we don't know."

To date, most research on mercury emissions has focused on what happens to it in aquatic environments, which makes sense, Gerson said.

There are microbes living in ecosystems without a lot of oxygen—underwater, for example—that are very efficient at converting mercury into a compound called methyl mercury, which is the form of mercury that causes neurotoxic impacts.

In aquatic environments, then, methyl mercury gets in on the ground floor of the food chain. The chemical accumulates in larger fish and sea life preying on smaller organisms, which is why certain seafoods present mercury concerns for humans. Young children and developing fetuses are especially vulnerable.

With an abundance of oxygen above water, however, research on the fate of methyl mercury on land has been scant.

"We know terrestrial conversion of mercury to methyl mercury is less efficient, but there's a lot of mercury entering the terrestrial ecosystems near artisanal gold mining," Gerson said. "So, it is a concern."

Underscoring that concern is the fact that, during earlier work in Peru, Gerson observed evidence that songbirds in forests near ASGM activity had been exposed to mercury, likely through their diet of fruit and bugs.

Now, with the grant, Gerson and her teammates will track how mercury moves through terrestrial environments and where it ultimately ends up to paint a much more comprehensive picture of its effect on public health.

Also joining the research team are Edith Parker, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa; Elsie Sunderland, a professor at Harvard University; and Emmanuel Effah, a lecturer at the University of Mines and Technology.

The project will begin Jan. 1, 2024.


More information: Arabella Chen et al, Education and equipment distribution lead to increased mercury knowledge and retort use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities in Senegal, Cleaner Production Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.clpl.2023.100050


Provided by Michigan State University


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