News Bitts New Jersey opens third offshore

Wind Solicitation

New Jersey energy ofcials moved to open a third round of solicitations from offshore wind energy companies that could double the state’s already aggressive wind power goals.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted March 6 to open applications for between 1.2 gigawatts and 4 GW of capacity, on top of 3.75 GW already in the pipeline set by Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.

New Jersey has opened a third round of solicitations from offshore wind companies, as developers continue to survey lease areas in the New York Bight.

“Today marks a pivotal next step toward accomplishment of our offshore wind development goals,” according to a statement from Murphy, who has talked of building out to 11 GW of potential power offshore – rivaling the goals of neighboring New York state.

“Offshore wind constitutes a crucial component of our journey to 100 percent clean energy by 2035, a benchmark that solidi es our position at the national forefront of climate action,” said Murphy. His administration is building infrastructure initiatives like the New Jersey Wind Port near the mouth of the Delaware River to position New Jersey as a hub for building projects off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

The solicitation comes as the Murphy administration and federal agencies are under re from offshore wind critics, who contend a series of whale strandings on the state’s beaches require a pause in offshore wind geotechnical surveys using sonar and sea oor drilling.

The Ocean Wind and Atlantic Shores turbine arrays planned off New Jersey already had local opposition from residents and businesses in beachside towns. The whale deaths since December have energized their effort, and generated publicity from Fox News and other conservative commentators who have picked up the critics’ narrative that survey noise could have disoriented the whales’ sense of hearing.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains that there is no evidence that offshore wind operations have done anything to affect whale strandings, which have been elevated among humpbacks along the East Coast since 2016.

Conservative media coverage has fed a partisan edge to the offshore wind debate. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, whose southern New Jersey coastal district would look out to the planned wind turbine arrays, had a March 16 public hearing planned at the Wildwood, N.J., convention center hall, that could be the rst in a series of inquiries by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives into the Biden administration’s offshore wind push.

In announcing their new solicitation, New Jersey state of cials say the third round will call on developers to commit more money toward assessing the environmental impacts of wind power. — Kirk

Moore

More than $12 million available for U.S. Marine Highway Program

The Maritime Administration (Marad) announced in March that $12.4 million is available in fiscal year 2023 funds through the U.S. Marine Highway Program (USMHP), previously named America’s Marine Highway Program. The USMHP seeks to increase the use of navigable waterways in the U.S., especially where water-based transport is the most efficient, effective, and sustainable option. Applications must be submitted by April 28, 2023. Contact the USMHP staff via email at mh@dot.gov or by phone at 202–366–1123.

BOEM proposes first Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale

InFebruary, the Department of the Interior proposed plans for the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed sale includes a 102,480-acre area offshore Lake Charles, La., and two areas offshore Galveston, Texas, one comprising 102,480 acres and the other 96,786 acres. These areas have the potential to power almost 1.3 million homes with clean energy, the Interior Department said.

Coast Guard commander relieved of duty following collision

Thecommander of the Puerto Ricobased Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser was formally relieved of his duties in February, as an investigation continues into the cutter’s August 2022 collision with a fishing vessel. Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Williamsz was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in Williamsz’s ability to effectively command the cutter,” the Coast Guard said.