2021 Offshore Wind – East Coast Projects By John Benson January 2021 1. Introduction This is the first post of a 2-part paper and only covers the subtitle subject. The second post will cover everything else, including west coast activity, a new inter-government organization and new turbine developments. Although these are basically both completed, there will be two weeks between this post and part 2, as these originally started out as a single post (but was way too long), and I have committed to post another paper on 1/26. The last posts with the same subject as this was and last May. This is described and linked below. A Wet & Windy Post: This post focuses on updates for U.S. East Coast off-shore wind projects, and any advancements in products from turbine vendors that supply these to the aforementioned projects. https://energycentral.com/c/cp/wet-windy-post Although there has been some progress on the East Coast, most projects have slowed to a crawl – partially due to the Pandemic, but mostly due to delays by the outgoing administration. The former is being mitigated by the vaccines, and the latter will be toast after tomorrow (on Jan 20 and this paper is scheduled for posting on Jan 19). Also the new administration is likely to quickly accelerate the deployment of these projects due five reasons: the COVID-19 Vaccines, climate change mitigation, jobs, jobs, and jobs. 2. East Coast Each of the subsections below will deal with a single project or a series of stages for a large single project. I found one new project covered in the first subsection below. Although it was in progress in May when A Wet & Windy Post was published, its completion date is just listed as “by the mid-2020s”, so there may not have been many details at that time.
2.1. Mayflower Wind, Massachusetts From the developer’ site referenced here:1 In December 2018, Mayflower Wind was awarded the federal offshore lease area OCS-A-0521, which is located over 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 miles south of Nantucket. The lease area has the potential to generate over 1,600 megawatts (MW) of low-cost clean energy, or enough to power over half a million homes.
Mayflower Wind executed a 20-year power purchase agreement in January 2020 for 804 MW with the Massachusetts electric distribution companies, after successful selection
1 https://mayflowerwind.com/ 1
under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Section 83C II solicitation. We expect to deliver clean energy from the project by the mid-2020s.
From the source referenced here:2 The Baker-Polito Administration today announced the signing of lease agreements with Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind to utilize the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as the primary staging and deployment base for the construction and installation of their offshore wind projects located in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. These lease agreements commit the facility to full-time offshore wind work from 2023 into 2027 and are worth more than $32.5 million…
According to a 2018 assessment conducted for MassCEC on the workforce needs and economic impact of the emerging offshore wind industry, the deployment of 1,600 MW of offshore wind is estimated to support between 2,000 to 3,000 of direct job years over next 10 years and generate a total economic impact in Massachusetts of between $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion…
From this source:3 The Dutch firm Ventolines has signed on as offshore wind expertise partner for Mayflower Wind, a huge offshore wind project starting 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and has opened its first permanent U.S. office in Boston. Windpower Engineering & Development (this source) connected with Thibaut de Groen, Ventolines’ director of contracting and construction, and Lorry Wagner, the firm’s new U.S. representative, to learn more about the company’s U.S. offshore plans.
What project aspects will Ventolines be performing for Mayflower Wind?
For Mayflower, Ventolines will provide T&I (transport and installation) expertise on the electrical offshore substation, the wind turbine foundations, the electrical cables to collect the energy and get it to shore, and the wind turbines themselves. Shell and Ocean Winds staff are in management positions – we are supporting them on technical matters…
Mayflower Wind (is) a joint venture of Shell New Energies and Ocean Winds (the global offshore wind collaboration between EDP Renewables and ENGIE)…
I was unable to define what turbine they will be using, but one of the two project developers (Ocean Winds) has indicated that GE Haliade-X Turbines are their “turbines of choice” presently for their New Jersey Project (see below). I also reviewed their filed project plan, and although they redacted most of the section on turbines, I did see the MW output range per turbine and probable time of the turbine deliveries, and this was consistent with the Haliade-X (see section Error! Reference source not found.).
2 mass.gov, news, “Baker-Polito Administration Announces Agreements with Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind for New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal”, Aug 20, 2020, https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-agreements-with-vineyard-wind-and- mayflower-wind-for-new 3 Windpower Engineering & Development, “U.S. offshore wind Q&A with Ventolines”, Dec 16. 2020, https://www.windpowerengineering.com/u-s-offshore-wind-qa-with-ventolines/ 2
2.2. Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind This project has made some progress. Dominion Energy on Dec. 18 revealed it had filed a required Construction and Operations Plan (COP) to build the 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). 4 The COP for the project includes information about the construction, operations, and conceptual decommissioning plans for the offshore wind farm, which Dominion has proposed to install within a 2013-obtained 112,800-acre commercial lease area located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The COP says that while approval by the State Corporation Commission is still pending, the CVOW commercial project is on track to commence construction in 2024 and be completed in 2026. BOEM will now review the COP and if it deems it “complete and sufficient,” and finds that the project meets environmental and technical reviews, Dominion will submit design and implementation plans. Installation of the turbines can then begin. Company documents show Dominion expects BOEM’s review could take up to two years. Pilot project: Dominion’s proposed CVOW project expands on knowledge gained from a 12-MW CVOW pilot, which is located adjacent to the commercial lease area. The pilot features two Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) 6-MW SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines whose installation was completed by August 2020. “The two turbines are operational while the project undergoes BOEM’s technical review before officially entering service,” Dominion said on Friday (12/18). I believe, as indicated in the prior post last May, SGRE is still the conditionally selected turbine supplier for the main (2.6 GW) project. From this source.5 Offshore wind is a complex and enormous capital construction domain. Among other requirements, specific ships — jack ships that extends legs to the sea floor and jacks up above the sea for a stable construction platform — are required for the actual putting together of the massive wind turbines at sea. To date, there is no U.S. flagged jack ship that can support construction. The limited projects to date, such as Dominion’s two-turbine project that begin operations earlier this year, have used leased European ships. Due to U.S. law, specifically the Jones Act, using non-U.S.- constructed and crewed ships greatly complicates and constrains U.S. offshore wind construction. Dominion, with its accelerating path toward a massive 2.6-gigawatt wind farm off the Virginia coast, announced today that it is investing $600 million to address this bottleneck. In a press conference earlier today that featured Governor Ralph Northam, Senator Mark Warner, and Dominion’s CEO Robert Blue, Dominion Energy announced the keel laying of the first Jones Act-compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel. Being
4 Sonal Patel, Power, “Dominion Kicks Off 2.6-GW Virginia Project”, Dec 22, 2020, https://www.powermag.com/power-offshore-wind-notebook-ge-boosts-haliade-x-to-14-gw-dominion- kicks-off-2-6-gw-virginia-project-vestas-absorbs-mhi-vestas/ 5 A Siegel, Blue Virginia, “Dominion Takes Step in Establishing Offshore Wind Industry: Contracts for Construction/Services Ship”, Dec 16, 2020, https://bluevirginia.us/2020/12/dominion-takes-step-in- establishing-offshore-wind-industry-contracts-for-construction-services-ship 3
built by shipbuilding firm Keppel AmFELS shipbuilders in Brownsville, Texas, this ship should enter service in 2023. “Today marks a critical step forward in the development of the offshore wind industry in Virginia and across the East Coast.” Senator Warner continued, “The construction of the first Jones Act compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel serves as another vital link in the growing domestic manufacturing supply chain to support offshore wind energy development here in the U.S. This vessel will enable the timely construction of planned offshore wind development projects throughout the East Coast, including the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project.” The ship will be based in the Hampton Roads area, potentially with other to be constructed offshore wind support ships and vessels, and serve offshore wind projects along the Atlantic seaboard. Dominion Energy will own and operate the ship to lease it out for offshore wind projects — including to Dominion Energy Virginia. The good news is that the technology used for jack ships is very similar to technology used for drill ships and jack-up rigs which have been manufactured in large volumes in the U.S.
2.3. Ocean Wind, New Jersey From this source4…the GE Haliade-X is so far … the turbine of choice under preferred supplier agreements for the 120-MW Skipjack and 1,100-MW Ocean Wind projects off the coast of New Jersey and Maryland, which are being developed by Danish renewable energy company Ørsted. In December, GE also became the preferred turbine supplier for the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1, a project offshore Massachusetts that was slated to come online in 2023 but is currently on hold. From the prior post last May: the output of this project will be 1,100 MW via 90 GE Haliade-X 12 MW Turbines. The power will be delivered to PSE&G. The primary developer is Orsted. The closed Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station will provide a transmission point for energy generated by the wind farm. From this source,6 New Jersey will lead the country in developing offshore wind capabilities, Gov. Phil Murphy said as he announced a $250 million investment in a manufacturing facility that makes components for the wind industry. Germany’s EEW will break ground in January on a facility at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal in Gloucester County that will make the steel components for offshore wind turbines for the United States market. The project will bring 500 jobs to the area with production slated to begin in 2023. Murphy has made offshore wind energy a priority of his administration and announced plans to develop the New Jersey Winds Port in Lower Alloways Creek in June. This was another step to making New Jersey the “leader in offshore wind in the United States,” the governor said.
6 Kim Jarret, Washington Examiner, “New Jersey investing $250M in project to build turbines for offshore wind farms”, Dec 23, 2020, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/new-jersey-investing-250m-in- project-to-build-turbines-for-offshore-wind-farms 4
From this source,7 Ørsted announced today (Dec 10) that it has submitted a bid to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to develop its Ocean Wind 2 project. The bid is in response to the second request for proposals under Governor Phil Murphy’s Offshore Wind Strategic Plan. This solicitation will award up to 2,400 MW. Gov. Murphy’s plan calls for 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035. 2.4. Sunrise Wind, Long Island, NY I’ve repeated the earlier post from last May in the paragraph below with some added details below that. This project will be located 30 miles east of Montauk Point, Long Island, NY and 19 miles southeast of Block Island, RI. The power will be delivered to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) via Con Ed Transmission. Output will be 880 MW via SGRE SG 8.0- 167 DD offshore wind turbines, which will be supplied under a conditional contract with the project partners. The primary developers are Orsted and Eversource. This project will be started in 2022, and is expected to be fully operational by 2024. Con Edison Transmission will develop the transmission facilities required to deliver the wind energy to the grid under a memorandum of understanding with the project partners. New York Power Authority (NYPA) will also support the development of the transmission infrastructure.8 Sunrise Wind, an offshore wind joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource, has announced a purchase in Brookhaven Town – 22 Research Way, in East Setauket – a new facility that will serve as the regional Operations and Maintenance (O&M) hub for Sunrise Wind and will help support the joint venture’s portfolio of Northeast wind farms.9 In addition, the joint venture is progressing its plans to make Port Jefferson harbor the home port of the first-ever American-flagged, Jones Act-qualified Service Operations Vessel (SOV), which will support Sunrise Wind, the South Fork Wind project serving Long Island, and other projects in the joint venture’s portfolio. Together, the Research Way O&M facility and the Port Jefferson harbor home port will create about 100 permanent direct jobs for the region, as well as significant indirect and induced jobs. This project also will build a $10 million National Workforce Training Center on Long Island, creating a curriculum and developing training programs that will support jobs in the offshore wind industry and a new Operation and Maintenance Hub in Port Jefferson, Long Island, NY.
7 Orsted, “Ørsted Submits Bid in Response to New Jersey’s Latest Call for Offshore Wind”, Dec 10, 2020, https://oceanwind.com/news-archive/2020/12/orsted-submits-bid-in-response-to-new-jerseys-latest-call- for-offshore-wind 8 Power Technology, “Sunrise Wind Project, New York”, https://www.power- technology.com/projects/sunrise-wind-project-new-york/ 9 Sunrise Wind, “Sunrise Wind Advancing Operations and Maintenance Hub in Suffolk County”, Nov 23, 2020, https://sunrisewindny.com/news/2020/11/sunrise-wind-advancing-operations-and-maintenance-hub- in-suffolk-county 5
2.5. Empire Wind, Beacon Wind Long Island, NY The second paragraph below repeats some information from the post last May (with updated dates), and some new information with references is below that. Note that Beacon Wind was just awarded, concurrent with Empire Wind 2, as this post is undergoing final preparations. See text at the end of this subsection. This project will be located 14 miles south of Jones Beach Island, Long Island, NY. Project output will be 816 MW via 60-80 Turbines (supplier TBD). The expected first power is 2024 or 2025. Primary developer is Equinor. Equinor is currently the sole owner of the Empire wind project and will remain the operator throughout the development, construction and operations phases. In September 2020, Equinor entered an agreement with BP to sell a 50% non-operated stake in the project under a $1.1bn deal that also includes a 50% interest in the Beacon wind project on the US east coast. The transaction is expected to be completed in early- 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.10 The project is expected to generate approximately 800 local jobs during the construction and operation phases. New York, 10/20/2020 – Today, Equinor submitted bids into New York’s second offshore wind solicitation, building on its strong commitment to deliver renewable energy to the Empire State…11 Equinor submitted its proposals to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in response to the state’s most recent solicitation requesting proposals for up to 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind and a multi-port infrastructure investment plan… “ Equinor has offered bids including two projects, “Empire Wind Phase 2” and “Beacon Wind,” which together have the potential to power more than one million homes and generate more than 3,000 new jobs for New York State. This latest announcement builds on the success of Empire Wind Phase 1, an 816 MW winning bid in 2019 that is currently under development… Equinor plans to use the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal for construction activities and its operations and maintenance (O&M) base going forward. The proposals include plans for manufacturing offshore wind components upstate at the Port of Coeymans and the Port of Albany. In addition, Equinor is advancing efforts to address environmental justice and support disadvantaged communities, basing many of the project’s investments in these underserved communities. Per the source referenced here,12 Equinor (NYSE: EQNR) revealed Wednesday that it has been selected to provide New York State with offshore wind power in what is being described as one of the largest renewable energy procurements in the U.S. to date.
10 Power Technology, “Empire Wind Project, Offshore New York”, https://www.power- technology.com/projects/empire-wind-project-offshore-new-york/ 11 Equinor Press Release, “Equinor Ready to Expand Offshore Wind in New York, Invest Locally, Oct 20, 2020, https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/empirewind.html 12 Andreas Exarheas, Rigzone, “Equinor Bags Largest Ever US Offshore Wind Award”, Jan 14, 2021, https://www.rigzone.com/news/equinor_bags_largest_ever_us_offshore_wind_award-14-jan-2021-164336-article/?rss=true 6
Under the award, Equinor and incoming strategic partner BP will provide generation capacity of 1,260 megawatts (MW) of renewable offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2, and another 1,230 MW of power from Beacon Wind 1 – adding to the existing commitment to provide New York with 816 MW of renewable power from Empire Wind 1.
2.6. Vineyard Wind, Massachusetts Vineyard Wind was hoping to be one of the first major projects on the East Coast, but there have been many delays, mainly from the Trump Administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Officials with Vineyard Wind said they are temporarily withdrawing the group’s application for federal approval to build the first large U.S. offshore wind farm, saying more time is needed to conduct a final technical review after announcing a change in the turbines expected to be used in the project.13 Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), on Dec. 1 said it had chosen GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X turbines, which have a generating capacity of 12 to 13 MW, to supply the wind farm. The 800-MW project originally planned to use 9.5-MW turbines from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind. Use of the Haliade-X turbine will enable Vineyard Wind to reduce the number of towers in the development’s first phase from 84 to 62. The group in a news release Tuesday said that “As a part of reaching this important milestone, Vineyard Wind has decided to temporarily withdraw its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from further review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to allow the project team to conduct a final technical review associated with the inclusion of the Haliade-X into the final project design.” I expect the main driver of this decision was to move the regulatory process to a friendlier environment (the Biden / Harris Administration), and the change in Turbines was just a side benefit. The Trump Administration, true-to-form, had a parting shot: As far as the Trump administration is concerned, Vineyard Wind is no longer in line to be the first utility-scale offshore wind development in the United State.14 The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management officially declared Vineyard Wind’s federal permitting process “terminated” with a posting published in the federal register Wednesday. Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen told E&E News this week that Vineyard Wind does not think it will need to start from square one when it resubmits its updated construction and operations plan and “that a reintroduction of the project in front of the agency can be completed in a relatively short period of time.” …
13 Darrell Proctor, Power, “Vineyard Wind Puts 800-MW Offshore Project on Hold”, Dec 2, 2020, https://www.powermag.com/vineyard-wind-puts-800-mw-offshore-project-on-hold/ 14 Colin A. Young, State House News Service, via WWLP News, “Vineyard wind project officially taken off the table for now”, Dec 16, 2020. https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/vineyard-wind-project- officially-taken-off-the-table-for-now/ 7
…President Donald Trump’s administration… (per) Congressional lawmakers and some in the energy world (is) prejudiced against wind developments. Many in the wind industry expect the Biden administration will be more receptive to the technology.
2.7. Revolution Wind, Rhode Island & Connecticut The following is a brief summary from last May’s post followed by additional information. This project is located 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. The project will produce 700MW. The expected commissioning date will be in 2023. The power will be delivered to National Grid and United Illuminating. The primary developers are Orsted and Eversource.
The project will comprise two wind farms of 400MW and 300MW capacities, respectively. The 400MW wind farm will deliver power to Rhode Island, while Connecticut will receive 300MW from the other wind farm.15
The total project cost for Revolution Wind is estimated to be $1.5 billion…
The Revolution offshore wind farm complex will be installed with 88 SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa.
Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) approved a long-term power purchase agreement with Eversource and United Illuminating … in December 2018…
In May 2019, The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved a 20-year PPA between the project developers and National Grid for 400MW from the Revolution Wind project in May 2019.
Since (the above) very big and very public milestones, things have been relatively quiet for a project that could cost more than $2 billion to build.16
The paucity of action is largely due to a hold-up in the federal permitting process for offshore wind projects...
Orsted and Eversource are gearing up for a series of steps forward in 2021 that notably includes an expectation that BOEM will put their application — known as a Construction and Operations Plan — out for public comment.
2.8. Maryland Offshore Wind Very little new information on this project. Below is from the prior post (including the reference), and following that some text and a reference regarding the developer’s new CEO.
15 NS Energy, “Revolution Wind Project”, https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/revolution-wind- project/# 16 Alex Kuffner, The Providence Journal, “RI's wind-farm plan poised to advance in '21”, Nov 19, 2020, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ris-wind-farm-plan-poised-to-advance-in-21/ar-BB1b8UXz 8
This project (a.k.a. Marwind) is located 17 miles east of Ocean City MD, Project output will be 270 MW from 32 turbines (turbine manufacturer TBD). The expected commissioning date is in 2023. Primary developer is US Wind.17 Jeff Grybowski used to lead the company that built the nation's first offshore wind pilot project, and after a year on the sidelines, he wants back into the industry.18
Now, the former CEO of Deepwater Wind LLC says he isn't sure whether Joe Biden will give the jump-start to offshore wind that many are expecting, despite the president- elect's goal of decarbonizing the country's power supplies by 2035.
"I don't know what to expect," he said in an interview, adding that he hoped Biden would address staffing and permitting bottlenecks in the Interior Department. At the same time, the Trump administration hasn't been fully negative for offshore wind, he said, despite criticism from some offshore wind advocates.
There were "unrealistic expectations" of how fast the industry would develop, he said when asked about President Trump…
Last week, he announced that he would take the helm of U.S. Wind Inc. — a developer that plans to undertake a far more ambitious series of wind projects off the coast of Maryland. The company has leased enough space in the Atlantic to provide 1 gigawatt of wind. By comparison, a separate New Jersey wind project is estimated to power 1.1 million homes…
Biden wants to put the U.S. on track for 100% carbon neutral energy by 2035. What would that mean for offshore wind?
“I'm in no position to speculate. I think it's very difficult for states on the Eastern Seaboard to reach any of their current high clean-energy goals without offshore wind. The East Coast is very unlike Texas or the Great Plains. It just doesn't have that kind of real estate to do onshore renewables. Consequently, I don't know how you meet a national goal, either, without a fair amount of offshore wind.”
2.9. South Fork, Long Island, NY The following is from the post from last May with a new completion date and reference which is the only new news. This project 30 miles southeast of Montauk Point, Long Island, NY & 19 miles southeast of Block Island, RI, The project will have a 130 MW output using TBD Siemens Gamesa Turbines. Power will be delivered to Long Island Power Authority. Developers are Orsted and Eversource. South Fork is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2022. 19
17 US Wind Project Description, “Maryland”, http://www.uswindinc.com/maryland-offshore-wind-project/ 18 David Iaconangelo, E&E News, “Offshore wind CEO on Biden and why Trump critics are wrong”, Dec 11, 2020, https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063720113 19 Veselina Petrova, Renewables Now, “BOEM seeks input on 130-MW South Fork offshore wind project”, Jan 6, 2021, https://renewablesnow.com/news/boem-seeks-input-on-130-mw-south-fork-offshore-wind-project-726909/ 9
2.10. Skipjack, Delaware The text below is from the earlier post in May. A thorough search did not turn up any updates. This project is located 19.5 miles off of the coast of Delaware to Maryland state line. The developers needed to change anticipated completion date from late 2022 to the new target of the end of 2023 due to BOEM delays. Skipjack will deliver 120 MW via 10 GE Haliade-X 12 MW Turbines. Primary developer is Orsted.
10