PE: Fishermen discover world “clawing” for P.E.I. lobster
By Steve Sharratt, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Guardian, March 22, 2010
[CHARLOTTETOWN, PE] — P.E.I. lobster fishermen may be on the waves of creating their own marketing co-operative after enduring dismal prices last year and discovering a phenomenal demand for their catches this year at the Boston Seafood Show.
“The good news is that the bad news isn’t bad after all,” said Mike McGeoghegan, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, who just returned from the biggest international seafood show. “Last year the show barely had attendance. This year the Expo Centre was packed and you could barely move and everyone wants our lobster.”
After watching catch prices drop by 50 per cent in the last three years, fishermen contend there must be incidents of price manipulation on the Maritime scene after being advised that seafood demand in the United States — including lobster — was up by 100 per cent last fall.
The two biggest seafood restaurant chains, Red Lobster and Olive Garden, didn’t lower lobster prices on their menus, although they watched orders drop by 20 per cent, suggesting it was too difficult to increase again.
Lobster fishermen faced a terrible season last year barely getting $3 a pound after earning almost twice that amount three years ago.
The seafood show this year drew 16,000 companies from over 90 countries and every seafood online media outlet and brokerage house is confirming a major demand for lobster because there is nothing in storage.
“We’ve been fed a lot of bunk,” says Pinette-area fisherman Charlie McGeoghegan, who attended the show with his father. “Everybody is crying for lobster around the world and yet we’re being told on the local scene that demand is down and the exchange rate is killing us.”
The Belfast/Murray River MLA said claims the recession has dwindled demand are false and every seafood seller he spoke to at the two-day show is “begging” to get lobster to market. Last summer, many Island fishermen were bypassing local processors and having no problem selling their catch from the back of their trucks for $5 a pound.
“I don’t think fishermen should sell a pound this year if we don’t get a price that reflects the demand,” said the association chairman. “I’m not pointing fingers, but there can be no possible reason why lobster prices on Prince Edward Island remain low this year.”
True North Foods, which sells 2,000 tonnes of seafood a day to China, doesn’t market any lobster, said the MLA, because they don’t have any to sell.
“What we heard from these seafood sellers goes against the grain of what fishermen are being told on the Island,” he said. “There’s an open door to a new market in China and no one is knocking on it. It’s like there’s a cartel of processors in the Maritimes who are setting the price and leaving the fishermen out to dry and that is going to change.”
The PEIFA chair, in Moncton for fishery meetings, estimates Island fishermen lost $40 million last year and the P.E.I. economy missed out on over $100 million in spinoffs because of the price differences in lobster.
“We were fishing right beside Nova Scotia fishermen (in the Northumberland Strait) who were earning $1.75 more per pound for the same lobsters we were landing.”
P.E.I. landed over 22 million pounds of lobster in 2009. At the recent PEIFA annual meeting in Charlottetown, a major American business guru told fishermen the Island is not a “small speck” in the seafood industry — as the processing industry advises here — and provides 80 per cent of whole and cooked red lobster to the world marketplace.
A Beach Point fisherman who received $2.75 per pound this past season for his catch found himself paying $43 for a cooked lobster in a Charlottetown restaurant this winter when he took his wife out for dinner.
Fishermen were earning $5.50 for canners and $6.50 for markets in 2006 but netted only $2.75 for canners and $3.50 for markets last year. A provincial Department of Fisheries report indicates that even though volumes were down last year, export values in dollars were way up.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Nova Scotia Population Decline
NS: Demographic doom
By Nancy King, Transcontinental Media
Source: Cape Breton Post, Mar. 25/10
[SYDNEY, NS] – Quality of life in Nova Scotia could drop significantly in the next 10-15 years if the province can’t stem the population decline.
A report released this week details the demographic challenges facing the province and what they could mean for the Nova Scotia. It came out of a population forum held recently in Wolfville that brought together municipalities, chambers of commerce and regional development authorities.
It notes that Nova Scotia will run out of its available labour force in less than seven years, with one in eight jobs going unfilled, and that will affect all economic sectors and job categories.
“Municipalities — I’m talking rural, towns and cities — are going to find that in the next 10-15 years, that short, if we can’t get some solutions to this problem that we see looming out there, we’ll not be able to provide the necessary services and health care for senior citizens and for our children that we’ve had in the past, and the quality of life as we know it as Nova Scotians is in jeopardy,” says Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean, who chaired the forum.
If the province doesn’t retain young people, encourage others to move back, attract immigrants and stop the decline of rural communities, it won’t have the necessary tax base to pay for those services, he says.
“Even if we jump on it now, we’re going to have trouble in the next 10 years, but let’s try to alleviate this a little bit,” MacLean says.
In the report, Jim McNiven, a senior policy research adviser with Canmac Economics Ltd., predicts the province would need to attract at least 515,000 immigrants by 2028 to maintain modest economic growth, something deemed unrealistic for a province that now attracts less than one per cent of immigrants to Canada.
If the province relies on seniors remaining in the workforce past the traditional retirement age, workers would not be able to retire until some point in their 70s and all adults would have to work.
Even if Nova Scotia increased productivity by more than 50 per cent, the province would still come up short.
As a result, the report says addressing the labour challenges will require a mixed solution.
MacLean says all three levels of government and other agencies now need to look at the statistics and work together to develop a plan.
“We’re watching, as we speak, rural communities shrinking, losing their young people, going out west or moving to the cities… how do we retain our people here? There has to be some cooperation between all levels of government to try to, first of all, create jobs to keep our young people here,” he says.
Keeping the older population active and healthy will also be key so they can continue working, MacLean says.
“This is a very obvious crisis that has to be addressed by all of us,” he adds.
There are efforts underway to organize additional sessions, possibly in Sydney and Halifax, which would include provincial and federal officials. MacLean says he’d like to see a provincial cabinet minister assigned to the issue.
By Nancy King, Transcontinental Media
Source: Cape Breton Post, Mar. 25/10
[SYDNEY, NS] – Quality of life in Nova Scotia could drop significantly in the next 10-15 years if the province can’t stem the population decline.
A report released this week details the demographic challenges facing the province and what they could mean for the Nova Scotia. It came out of a population forum held recently in Wolfville that brought together municipalities, chambers of commerce and regional development authorities.
It notes that Nova Scotia will run out of its available labour force in less than seven years, with one in eight jobs going unfilled, and that will affect all economic sectors and job categories.
“Municipalities — I’m talking rural, towns and cities — are going to find that in the next 10-15 years, that short, if we can’t get some solutions to this problem that we see looming out there, we’ll not be able to provide the necessary services and health care for senior citizens and for our children that we’ve had in the past, and the quality of life as we know it as Nova Scotians is in jeopardy,” says Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean, who chaired the forum.
If the province doesn’t retain young people, encourage others to move back, attract immigrants and stop the decline of rural communities, it won’t have the necessary tax base to pay for those services, he says.
“Even if we jump on it now, we’re going to have trouble in the next 10 years, but let’s try to alleviate this a little bit,” MacLean says.
In the report, Jim McNiven, a senior policy research adviser with Canmac Economics Ltd., predicts the province would need to attract at least 515,000 immigrants by 2028 to maintain modest economic growth, something deemed unrealistic for a province that now attracts less than one per cent of immigrants to Canada.
If the province relies on seniors remaining in the workforce past the traditional retirement age, workers would not be able to retire until some point in their 70s and all adults would have to work.
Even if Nova Scotia increased productivity by more than 50 per cent, the province would still come up short.
As a result, the report says addressing the labour challenges will require a mixed solution.
MacLean says all three levels of government and other agencies now need to look at the statistics and work together to develop a plan.
“We’re watching, as we speak, rural communities shrinking, losing their young people, going out west or moving to the cities… how do we retain our people here? There has to be some cooperation between all levels of government to try to, first of all, create jobs to keep our young people here,” he says.
Keeping the older population active and healthy will also be key so they can continue working, MacLean says.
“This is a very obvious crisis that has to be addressed by all of us,” he adds.
There are efforts underway to organize additional sessions, possibly in Sydney and Halifax, which would include provincial and federal officials. MacLean says he’d like to see a provincial cabinet minister assigned to the issue.
Countries Going to Offshore Wind
From Britain:
Hooray !!! General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs. What? In England?
March 26, 2010 — morgan
We sure hope none of the tax credits and subsidies that support GE directly or indirectly enables this little adventure. Naah! That could never happen … could it? I know Jeff Immelt is good buddies with the President, but hey!
See, I thought when they said the wind industry would create jobs, they meant here … in the US … with US workers … using US materials. Geesh!
From the UK Times Online edition: General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs
March 26, 2010
Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor
The Government plans to generate one third of Britain’s electricity from giant offshore wind parks by 2020
Up to 1,900 jobs could be created in the UK after General Electric revealed plans to build a factory to make offshore wind turbines.
It will invest €110 million (£99 million) over the next decade on the plant, which will employ about 500 people producing turbine blades, towers and other parts. Magued Eldaief, the managing director of GE Energy UK, said that an additional 450 jobs would be created at other sites in Britain, while the investment would support a further 950 positions at other UK companies involved in the supply of components.
The Government plans an estimated 8,000 wind turbines for giant offshore wind parks in the North Sea and the Irish Sea to help meet its target of cutting carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.
Mr Eldaief said that a “handful” of manufacturing sites were being considered.
He said that the company’s investment was linked to measures announced in the Budget to provide £60 million of funding that would help develop British ports to support the offshore wind industry.
The plant will build 4 megawatt wind turbines — each of which are up to 140m (460ft) high and have a turbine blade diameter equivalent to two football pitches. Mr Eldaief said: “The Budget announcement on ports was a key part of the decision. We have to make sure these ports have the capacity to handle these turbines.”
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said that the announcement shows a “vote of confidence in UK low carbon manufacturing”.
Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company that supplies 20 per cent of the world’s wind turbine market, last year cut 425 jobs at its manufacturing and research plant at Newport on the Isle of Wight and at a factory in Southampton.
Tom Delay, the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said that General Electric’s announcement was “proof that offshore wind presents a huge economic opportunity for the UK”.
Recession brings cleaner air
? Emissions of carbon dioxide in Britain fell by nearly a tenth last year — from 532.8 million tonnes in 2008 to 480.9 million — as demand for energy dropped on the back of a shrinking economy and as factories cut production or closed
? Industrial demand for electricity fell by 11 per cent, while demand for coal fell by 16 per cent
? Emissions from transport were also significantly lower as freight and cargo volumes fell
? The amount of electricity generated from renewables increased to 24.4 terrawatt hours after the completion of a string of wind parks. This still accounted for only a small fraction of the 344.6 terrawatt hour total of electricity produced from all sources, including coal, gas and nuclear energy
Hooray !!! General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs. What? In England?
March 26, 2010 — morgan
We sure hope none of the tax credits and subsidies that support GE directly or indirectly enables this little adventure. Naah! That could never happen … could it? I know Jeff Immelt is good buddies with the President, but hey!
See, I thought when they said the wind industry would create jobs, they meant here … in the US … with US workers … using US materials. Geesh!
From the UK Times Online edition: General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs
March 26, 2010
Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor
The Government plans to generate one third of Britain’s electricity from giant offshore wind parks by 2020
Up to 1,900 jobs could be created in the UK after General Electric revealed plans to build a factory to make offshore wind turbines.
It will invest €110 million (£99 million) over the next decade on the plant, which will employ about 500 people producing turbine blades, towers and other parts. Magued Eldaief, the managing director of GE Energy UK, said that an additional 450 jobs would be created at other sites in Britain, while the investment would support a further 950 positions at other UK companies involved in the supply of components.
The Government plans an estimated 8,000 wind turbines for giant offshore wind parks in the North Sea and the Irish Sea to help meet its target of cutting carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.
Mr Eldaief said that a “handful” of manufacturing sites were being considered.
He said that the company’s investment was linked to measures announced in the Budget to provide £60 million of funding that would help develop British ports to support the offshore wind industry.
The plant will build 4 megawatt wind turbines — each of which are up to 140m (460ft) high and have a turbine blade diameter equivalent to two football pitches. Mr Eldaief said: “The Budget announcement on ports was a key part of the decision. We have to make sure these ports have the capacity to handle these turbines.”
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said that the announcement shows a “vote of confidence in UK low carbon manufacturing”.
Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company that supplies 20 per cent of the world’s wind turbine market, last year cut 425 jobs at its manufacturing and research plant at Newport on the Isle of Wight and at a factory in Southampton.
Tom Delay, the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said that General Electric’s announcement was “proof that offshore wind presents a huge economic opportunity for the UK”.
Recession brings cleaner air
? Emissions of carbon dioxide in Britain fell by nearly a tenth last year — from 532.8 million tonnes in 2008 to 480.9 million — as demand for energy dropped on the back of a shrinking economy and as factories cut production or closed
? Industrial demand for electricity fell by 11 per cent, while demand for coal fell by 16 per cent
? Emissions from transport were also significantly lower as freight and cargo volumes fell
? The amount of electricity generated from renewables increased to 24.4 terrawatt hours after the completion of a string of wind parks. This still accounted for only a small fraction of the 344.6 terrawatt hour total of electricity produced from all sources, including coal, gas and nuclear energy
People's Opinions and Input Sought:Turbines
Blogger's Note: It's pointless to plant more wind turbines on land, at least in residential or nature areas. Offshore turbines are the ones that countries are going towards and soon what is planted in our yards and in nature/tourist areas will become hulking heaps.
By Patti Brandt
for the Daily News
Published: Friday, March 26, 2010 11:40 AM EDT
Offshore wind farms may soon be coming to a Great Lakes shoreline near you.
Five areas have been identified as ideal for the new wind technology, which plants the massive turbines in the water several miles offshore.
One of those is located in the outer Saginaw Bay, and one is in Lake Huron near Sanilac County.
Another is in southern Lake Michigan near Berrien County, with two more in northern Lake Michigan near Delta and Mackinac counties in the Upper Peninsula.
More than 80 people turned out Thursday at to learn about the wind technology and to have their say about the potential farms.
Though there was not a question and answer period, those attending the event at Saginaw Valley State University were all given hand-held 'clickers' that, using computer software, registered their anonymous answers to questions about whether they would support the wind farms in the Great Lakes.
They were also asked if they thought the wind farms would be harmful to things such as the environment, the fishing industry and tourism, and whether they would be more likely to support a coal-fired plant or a nuclear plant.
The event was hosted by the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council, a 29-member advisory body made up of people from the public and private sectors from all over the state. The GLOW council formed about two years ago, when it was charged with finding and mapping sites that would be the best spots for the offshore wind farms.
An area must be at least 20 square miles and less than 30 meters deep for it to be a viable option for an offshore wind farm, according to wind energy developers. The Saginaw Bay site is 27 square miles; the area near Sanilac is 36 square miles.
But Skip Pruss, council chair and director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, said the real potential for the state is in the manufacturing of wind turbines.
It's a rapidly evolving field, Pruss said, and Michigan needs to take advantage of it.
"This opportunity aligns so well with Michigan's strengths," he said. The state already has a work force trained in advanced manufacturing, robotics, tool and die, metal fabrication and gear boxes. Michigan also has the highest concentration of engineers of any state in the nation, he said.
"We need to be there in order to capture those opportunities for Michigan," Pruss said. "We can build them better, faster, cheaper and more durable than anyone else."
Michigan is ready to build the next generation of wind turbines, not just for the nation, but for the world, he said. Michigan has 35 deep water ports from which the heavy turbines can be transported via water.
"We want this to be an export industry for Michigan," he said.
The state also has several universities and community colleges, 18 of which have technical training institutes and are designing new curriculums in response to changing demands of the new clean energy fields.
Delta College already has in place an associate degree program in alternative energy/wind turbine technology.
Offshore wind farms are a part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to create jobs, diversify the economy and secure new investments for the state. Wind energy can also reduce Michigan's dependence on oil, as there are no fuel costs associated with wind turbines. The state now spends $24 billion per year on oil.
Wind farms also will help the state hit its Renewable Energy Standard that says that by 2015 at least 10 percent of Michigan's electric supply must be from renewable sources.
"If we don't do it, somebody else will," Dennis Banaszak said of the proposed offshore farms.
Banaszak, a Bay City commissioner, said the state needs to offer companies incentives such as tax breaks to lure them into installing turbines offshore, a much more expensive investment than turbines placed on land.
The GLOW council has been charged with detailing criteria for permitting and regulating offshore wind energy. Because of the location of the turbines in the Great Lakes, several agencies are involved with the process, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"There are so many complex issues that are in play when you are developing essentially the rules of the road," said Brett French, a council member and senior regional manager of the American Transmission Company.
Of more than 38,000 square miles of state-owned Great Lakes bottomland, just 323 square miles are considered ideal for location of offshore turbines. That's after areas that contain shipping lanes, harbors and marinas, shipwrecks, spawning and commercial fishing areas are ruled out.
Turbines cannot be located within three miles of the coastline, which is a biological productivity zone and contains spawning grounds and paths for migratory birds.
There is also a six-mile viewshed buffer zone; turbines located farther than six miles can't be easily seen and won't interfere with the beauty of the shoreline.
The Great Lakes bottomlands are owned and held in trust by the state for use by Michigan's residents. The land will be leased out for use by wind energy companies, with the first lease not expected to take place for at least three to five years.
During that time the public will have several opportunities to have input on permitting and leasing, site assessment plans and construction plans.
Companies that lease bottomlands will pay the state $3 per acre per year, plus royalties of 3 percent on the gross revenues of energy that is generated by the wind farm. The state will use that money for things like monitoring the impact of the wind farms and on the pursuit of other types of renewable energy.
As of the end of 2009 about 144 megawatts of wind power have been installed in Michigan, most of that by the John Deere Wind Energy Group in Huron County. Other wind generators can be found in Traverse City, near Mackinaw City and in Missaukee County.
People have complained about the noise generated by wind turbines, something that would not be a problem with turbines located several miles offshore, Banaszak said.
By Patti Brandt
for the Daily News
Published: Friday, March 26, 2010 11:40 AM EDT
Offshore wind farms may soon be coming to a Great Lakes shoreline near you.
Five areas have been identified as ideal for the new wind technology, which plants the massive turbines in the water several miles offshore.
One of those is located in the outer Saginaw Bay, and one is in Lake Huron near Sanilac County.
Another is in southern Lake Michigan near Berrien County, with two more in northern Lake Michigan near Delta and Mackinac counties in the Upper Peninsula.
More than 80 people turned out Thursday at to learn about the wind technology and to have their say about the potential farms.
Though there was not a question and answer period, those attending the event at Saginaw Valley State University were all given hand-held 'clickers' that, using computer software, registered their anonymous answers to questions about whether they would support the wind farms in the Great Lakes.
They were also asked if they thought the wind farms would be harmful to things such as the environment, the fishing industry and tourism, and whether they would be more likely to support a coal-fired plant or a nuclear plant.
The event was hosted by the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council, a 29-member advisory body made up of people from the public and private sectors from all over the state. The GLOW council formed about two years ago, when it was charged with finding and mapping sites that would be the best spots for the offshore wind farms.
An area must be at least 20 square miles and less than 30 meters deep for it to be a viable option for an offshore wind farm, according to wind energy developers. The Saginaw Bay site is 27 square miles; the area near Sanilac is 36 square miles.
But Skip Pruss, council chair and director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, said the real potential for the state is in the manufacturing of wind turbines.
It's a rapidly evolving field, Pruss said, and Michigan needs to take advantage of it.
"This opportunity aligns so well with Michigan's strengths," he said. The state already has a work force trained in advanced manufacturing, robotics, tool and die, metal fabrication and gear boxes. Michigan also has the highest concentration of engineers of any state in the nation, he said.
"We need to be there in order to capture those opportunities for Michigan," Pruss said. "We can build them better, faster, cheaper and more durable than anyone else."
Michigan is ready to build the next generation of wind turbines, not just for the nation, but for the world, he said. Michigan has 35 deep water ports from which the heavy turbines can be transported via water.
"We want this to be an export industry for Michigan," he said.
The state also has several universities and community colleges, 18 of which have technical training institutes and are designing new curriculums in response to changing demands of the new clean energy fields.
Delta College already has in place an associate degree program in alternative energy/wind turbine technology.
Offshore wind farms are a part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to create jobs, diversify the economy and secure new investments for the state. Wind energy can also reduce Michigan's dependence on oil, as there are no fuel costs associated with wind turbines. The state now spends $24 billion per year on oil.
Wind farms also will help the state hit its Renewable Energy Standard that says that by 2015 at least 10 percent of Michigan's electric supply must be from renewable sources.
"If we don't do it, somebody else will," Dennis Banaszak said of the proposed offshore farms.
Banaszak, a Bay City commissioner, said the state needs to offer companies incentives such as tax breaks to lure them into installing turbines offshore, a much more expensive investment than turbines placed on land.
The GLOW council has been charged with detailing criteria for permitting and regulating offshore wind energy. Because of the location of the turbines in the Great Lakes, several agencies are involved with the process, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"There are so many complex issues that are in play when you are developing essentially the rules of the road," said Brett French, a council member and senior regional manager of the American Transmission Company.
Of more than 38,000 square miles of state-owned Great Lakes bottomland, just 323 square miles are considered ideal for location of offshore turbines. That's after areas that contain shipping lanes, harbors and marinas, shipwrecks, spawning and commercial fishing areas are ruled out.
Turbines cannot be located within three miles of the coastline, which is a biological productivity zone and contains spawning grounds and paths for migratory birds.
There is also a six-mile viewshed buffer zone; turbines located farther than six miles can't be easily seen and won't interfere with the beauty of the shoreline.
The Great Lakes bottomlands are owned and held in trust by the state for use by Michigan's residents. The land will be leased out for use by wind energy companies, with the first lease not expected to take place for at least three to five years.
During that time the public will have several opportunities to have input on permitting and leasing, site assessment plans and construction plans.
Companies that lease bottomlands will pay the state $3 per acre per year, plus royalties of 3 percent on the gross revenues of energy that is generated by the wind farm. The state will use that money for things like monitoring the impact of the wind farms and on the pursuit of other types of renewable energy.
As of the end of 2009 about 144 megawatts of wind power have been installed in Michigan, most of that by the John Deere Wind Energy Group in Huron County. Other wind generators can be found in Traverse City, near Mackinaw City and in Missaukee County.
People have complained about the noise generated by wind turbines, something that would not be a problem with turbines located several miles offshore, Banaszak said.
Standards Being Created for Turbines in US
Blogger says: "Duh!" Standards are already in place in Europe and where are they in Canada? And where in Nova Scotia? especially curious why they weren't developed and put in place BEFORE plunking down turbines on land. Another "duh".
Standards being devised for offshore wind turbine farms
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, March 27, 2010
By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer
Rhode Island officials working on a state ocean zoning plan were in Washington this week to take part in a workshop to develop national design and safety standards for offshore wind turbines.
Because no offshore wind farms have been built yet in the United States, standards do not exist governing, among other issues, how turbines would be anchored to the ocean floor or how they would be built to survive hurricanes. But with several proposals on the table for offshore wind farms off the East Coast, the federal Minerals Management Service has begun working in haste to develop regulations for the design and operation of turbines.
Deepwater Wind has put forward a proposal to build two wind farms in waters off Rhode Island. The first, an eight-turbine project planned in state waters near Block Island, is moving through the approval process and scheduled to be on line by 2013. A larger, 100-turbine project in federal waters is set to follow.
Grover Fugate, executive director of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, and Jennifer McCann, of Rhode Island Sea Grant, are part of a team working on an ocean management plan that will determine locations for the wind farms. They traveled to Washington, along with scientists from the University of Rhode Island, to participate in the offshore wind standards workshop that was held Thursday and Friday by the Transportation Research Board, an arm of the nonprofit National Research Council. The council is researching possible regulations on behalf of MMS.
On Friday, Fugate and McCann said federal officials are working with states to develop standards for turbines, blades, towers, foundations and other equipment used in offshore wind farms. Rhode Island’s work to manage offshore wind through ocean zoning was highlighted at the event.
“They appreciate that Rhode Island is trying to be very thoughtful about this project,” Fugate said.
Although standards are in place in Europe, where offshore wind has already been developed, Fugate and McCann said not all of them could be duplicated in the United States because of environmental differences. For example, Fugate said, the European North Atlantic does not get the same types of hurricanes as in this country.
Development of the standards is important to Rhode Island because Deepwater’s eight-turbine project could be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.
“We need to get this right, now,” McCann said.
Standards being devised for offshore wind turbine farms
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, March 27, 2010
By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer
Rhode Island officials working on a state ocean zoning plan were in Washington this week to take part in a workshop to develop national design and safety standards for offshore wind turbines.
Because no offshore wind farms have been built yet in the United States, standards do not exist governing, among other issues, how turbines would be anchored to the ocean floor or how they would be built to survive hurricanes. But with several proposals on the table for offshore wind farms off the East Coast, the federal Minerals Management Service has begun working in haste to develop regulations for the design and operation of turbines.
Deepwater Wind has put forward a proposal to build two wind farms in waters off Rhode Island. The first, an eight-turbine project planned in state waters near Block Island, is moving through the approval process and scheduled to be on line by 2013. A larger, 100-turbine project in federal waters is set to follow.
Grover Fugate, executive director of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, and Jennifer McCann, of Rhode Island Sea Grant, are part of a team working on an ocean management plan that will determine locations for the wind farms. They traveled to Washington, along with scientists from the University of Rhode Island, to participate in the offshore wind standards workshop that was held Thursday and Friday by the Transportation Research Board, an arm of the nonprofit National Research Council. The council is researching possible regulations on behalf of MMS.
On Friday, Fugate and McCann said federal officials are working with states to develop standards for turbines, blades, towers, foundations and other equipment used in offshore wind farms. Rhode Island’s work to manage offshore wind through ocean zoning was highlighted at the event.
“They appreciate that Rhode Island is trying to be very thoughtful about this project,” Fugate said.
Although standards are in place in Europe, where offshore wind has already been developed, Fugate and McCann said not all of them could be duplicated in the United States because of environmental differences. For example, Fugate said, the European North Atlantic does not get the same types of hurricanes as in this country.
Development of the standards is important to Rhode Island because Deepwater’s eight-turbine project could be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.
“We need to get this right, now,” McCann said.
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