Jesse Broehl’s Post

And now our next update on what’s happening on the U.S. #offshorewind front, this time on the Atlantic Coast. We dive here into the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s May 1st Proposed Sale Notice for eight areas for commercial floating #offshorewind in the Gulf of Maine (Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire). We take a look at potential restrictions on the lease areas, bidding credits offered, including 12.5% for fisheries compensatory mitigation fund (the largest thus far), and the number of leases allowable per bidder (two total, with a maximum of one in the North). We also cover the near simultaneous announcement by Maine Governor Mills of a Request for Information to inform its first commercial solicitation for offshore wind. The RFI solicits comments on a wide range of topics, including regional coordination, ports and workforce, and transmission. Comments on the RFI are due on June 21, 2024, and on the PSN on July 1, 2024. Take a look! https://lnkd.in/gTxVk8CE. Kerensa Gimre, Ryan Thomas

My Prediction is they will probably never meet the target even beyond 2030. With the high cost of installation, threats to marine and other wildlife, with little return on investment (except for your tax dollar funded subsidies) many projects will fail in the planning stages. Unless they pull the end of the world wildcard and get the government to pour more of your money into it. There are also the quality failures of the wind tower manufacturers which they are still trying to overcome the costs of that, I hope they are including the price of blade replacements every few years in their calculations. You need to only fail so many times before you should give up, of course some will never give up as long as there are billions of dollars in government money to keep them afloat.

We welcome public comment on the Proposed Sale Notice for the second Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale. We will hold a 60-day public comment period. For this lease sale, we are considering the following lease stipulations: 🌊 Communities, particularly underserved communities, are considered and engaged early and often throughout the development process. 🌊 Potential impacts and benefits from projects are documented and that projected proposals address those impacts and benefits. 🌊 Proposed bidding credits such as funding for fisheries compensatory mitigation and workforce development. Visit https://ow.ly/rh7p50QZUk7 to learn more about these lease stipulations and how to submit public comment.

Get your survey responses in people. Should we explore this opportunity to see if it is viable for us? Remember this is not about whether we should go for it, it’s about whether we should look into the opportunity. Whatever your views, make sure your voice is heard.

𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱 Governor Janet Mills yesterday announced that the State of Maine has selected a section of state-owned Sears Island that is reserved for #portdevelopment as its preferred site for a port facility to support the floating offshore #windindustry. The selection of the site follows an extensive public stakeholder process led by the Maine Department of Transportation and Maine Port Authority to consider the State’s primary port development options, including multiple potential sites in the Port of Searsport, the Port of Eastport, and the Port of Portland. The State concluded that the Sears Island parcel is the most feasible port development site in terms of location, logistics, cost, and environmental impact based on input from port and #offshorewind stakeholders, including the University of Maine, and on technical and engineering analyses. Read the full article via the link below. #RenewableEnergy #EnergyTransition #OffshoreWind #OffshoreWindEnergy #WindEnergy #WindPower #FloatingWind #FloatingWindEnergy #FloatingOffshoreWind

📢 We’re pleased to announce EDF Business Solutions and EDF Renewables UK & Ireland have signed two Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (#CPPAs) with Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain and BAE Systems, provider of some of the world’s most advanced defence, aerospace and security solutions. Tesco and BAE Systems are two of three offtakers, who will buy the entire generation of EDF Renewable UK's 102MW Stranoch wind farm, located in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The commitment from these corporate buyers allowed for a positive investment decision in the wind farm, enabling the construction of additional renewable generation to the UK. This marks a key milestone in accelerating Scotland’s journey to a Net Zero future, with the wind farm due to become operational in late 2026. Both Corporate #PPAs have been facilitated by the EDF Business Solutions PPA team, who are providing power balancing and shaping services to enable the energy transfers.   Matthew Nunn, Director of EDF Business Solutions commented: "These two Corporate PPAs will utilise EDF’s unrivalled energy market knowledge and expert trading capabilities to facilitate the energy transfer to both Tesco and BAE systems, providing access to clean and affordable energy. It is great to see two strong and successful UK businesses supporting the build of large renewable assets and making such big commitments to progress their journeys to Net Zero.” Find out more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eKYDfH78 #CPPA #AcceleratingNetZero #OnshoreWind #RenewableEnergy #Scotland

Top stories today 🪁 Reeves lifts de facto onshore wind ban https://buff.ly/3VU0ERH Rt Hon Rachel Reeves has unveiled an immediate lifting of the “absurd” planning ban on onshore wind farms in England and signalled a reclassification of larger such developments as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). Reeves made the comments in her first speech as chancellor, and in one of the new government’s first policy announcements. 💧 Wessex CEO: We should have spoken up on CSOs https://buff.ly/3S0KeWv Colin Skellett’s time at the helm of Wessex Water has stretched from privatisation to PR24. As he prepares to hand over the reigns he talks to Utility Week about the urgent need to simplify regulation, the media furore surrounding the industry and the trust that has been lost because of it. ⚡ Keeping DSO metrics switched off seems like ‘admitting defeat’ https://buff.ly/3LiB5Vw Ofgem seems to be "admitting defeat" by keeping the DSO performance metrics switched off for the rest of the ED2 price controls. maxine frerk, a former partner at the regulator, said the more subjective performance panel assessments that remain part of the wider DSO incentive have been left without the “grounding” that would have been provided by “hard metrics”.

This infrastructure investment will not only help the Pacific Northwest directly in deployment of offshore wind, it helps build confidence in pursuing additional opportunities in Oregon and Washington as floating offshore wind will require a wide variety of port investments. Now that we have significant progress on one of the most challenging of them -- the major heavy lift terminal where wind turbine platforms are fully assembled -- we can begin to look at the many other needs. These range from smaller harbors that can support operations and maintenance, to large heavy manufacturing sites. All of which will be candidates for future grant applications. Learn more at Pacific Ocean Energy Trust's Northwest Offshore Wind Conference in Portland next week. Among many speakers knowledgeable on ports, we'll have Aubryn Cooperman from NREL speak to insight from recent studies on larger port investment needs to support a West Coast offshore wind buildout. See NREL's recent comprehensive West Coast port network study here: https://lnkd.in/gBPkt-Ws Register for the conference here: https://lnkd.in/gKTmVnuB #NOWCon24

Interesting developments in the windfarm industry with a recent ruling by the Upper Tribunal on capital allowances for feasibility studies. This decision will impact future claims and investments in renewable energy projects. Glen Thomas explores the case of Gunfleet Sands Ltd. & Others v HMRC and its future implications: https://ow.ly/fmPt50R21J5 #windenergy #renewables #capitalallowances #UpperTribunalDecision #feasibilitystudies.

Construction has started this week on our newest wind farm: Stranoch, a 102MW wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway. We're working with local and Scottish businesses, where possible, to build the wind farm. This includes civil contractors RJ McLeod for the enabling works and family-run I & H Brown Ltd for the civil engineering works. When operational, more than £500,000 a year will be injected back into local projects and initiatives through a dedicated Community Benefit Fund. This amounts to at least £15 million investment into the local area over the wind farm's 30-year lifespan. Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs) have been signed with Tesco and BAE Systems in partnership with EDF Business Solutions to purchase a proportion of the clean energy generated by the wind farm, with a third CPPA to be announced soon. Read more at https://lnkd.in/eKYDfH78 Pictured is our Pearie Law wind farm. #OnshoreWind #Scotland #RenewableEnergy #CPPA