Fed up with state coastal regulators’ perceived “deference” to offshore wind developers, all nine members of an advisory panel of Rhode Island fishing industry representatives have quit. In a letter sent Thursday, Aug. 31, to Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) Executive Director Jeff Willis, the entire Rhode Island Fishermen’s Advisory Board (FAB) declared its members were resigning effective immediately. The decision comes amid mounting tension between offshore wind developers and fishermen over the slew of offshore wind projects planned in and around Rhode Island waters.
There are “roughly about three dozen” people working at the pier to assemble the 12 turbines for the 130 megawatt South Fork Wind, Hammond told the board’s finance committee during a Tuesday meeting. A representative for the partnership of Eversource and Ørsted said there are 20 to 30 people involved in unloading the ship – mostly longshoremen – and they anticipate 60 to 80 in total working on South Fork at the pier.
With all state lawmaker seats up for election this fall, legislative leaders are signaling that the debate over offshore wind is emerging as a potential factor in who controls that branch of government over the next two years. In an unexpected move, the Democratic Senate president and Assembly speaker on Monday issued a joint statement expressing concerns about the state Board of Public Utilities’ approach on promoting offshore wind projects, citing concerns about its potential cost to utility customers and its impact on New Jersey’s lucrative tourism industry.
The jettisoned projects are the latest signs of stress for offshore wind farms that use turbines larger than skyscrapers to harvest power from the sea air, where winds are most powerful and consistent. Soaring materials costs, particularly for steel, forced turbine makers to raise prices. Costs of other key services, like specialized vessels to install the turbines, have jumped sharply as well. And rising interest rates mean that it’s more expensive to take on debt.
The government’s green energy ambitions have been dealt a blow after plans for a giant offshore windfarm off the Norfolk coast ground to a halt due to spiralling supply chain costs and rising interest rates. The Swedish energy giant Vattenfall said it would stop work on the multibillion-pound Norfolk Boreas windfarm, designed to power the equivalent of 1.5m British homes, because it was no longer profitable.