Commercial Fishing and Offshore Wind in Maine For more information: Josh Plourde (207) March 16, 2018

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Commercial Fishing and Offshore Wind in Maine For more information: Josh Plourde (207) March 16, 2018"

Sophia Ferguson
5 years ago
Views:

1 Commercial Fishing and Offshore Wind in Maine For more information: Josh Plourde (207) March 16, 2018 Future Offshore Wind Development in Maine The University of Maine will not license its floating offshore wind turbine technology to any developer, or support any future offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, that does not constructively engage with the fishing community. Any future wind farms will be located in federal waters and under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). While there is activity underway to develop offshore wind in southern New England and along the east coast, these states are at least 5-10 years ahead of Maine in terms of opening areas in federal waters for offshore wind development. BOEM has a prescribed process to determine potential wind energy areas, and requires significant public input over a 5-10 year period before an area can be bid on by a developer. Cable Installation and Fisheries Dr. Bob Steneck 1 of the UMaine Darling Marine Center has said: o No long-term impacts to the ecosystem are expected from cable installation. Short-term adverse effects of the disturbance itself, if any, are likely to be very local and temporary. o Focusing the installation schedule in winter months will reduce impacts because many of the shallow water dwelling lobsters will have moved to deep water. Nevertheless, some will be in the cable area. o It is highly unlikely that this project will impact scallops, oysters, or local lobster landings; many factors such as water temperatures play a much bigger role. We checked with local oyster growers and they know of no oysters being overwintered in the Damariscotta River south of the Fort Island constriction. o The impacts of scallop dragging are likely more than this operation. Dredges pose about the same risk to newly settled lobsters living in burrows as would the cable laying operation, however, the area dredged is much greater Impacts to American lobsters from cable burial would primarily be through the physical disturbance of habitat by plowing and the temporary increased suspended sediment and turbidity from construction methods. However, we expect this impact, if measurable, would be very temporary 5. Dragging for scallops and other species currently creates significant sediment disturbance, directly removes biogenic (sponges, hydrozoans, etc.) and sedimentary (sand waves, depressions) structures, and leads to reduction of habitat complexity which may lead to increased predation on juveniles of harvested species 6 such as lobster. UMaine has been a long-time significant partner to the lobster industry in Maine through the Lobster Institute, Darling Marine Center, etc., and will continue to do so. 1

2 Fishing has not been impacted by offshore wind projects such as Block Island in Rhode Island, and in fact, underwater videos from the Block Island project show a thriving ecosystem in a previously dead area 7. Independent and detailed studies have concluded that electrical cables do not pose a threat to marine life 8 Cable Installation The cable will be installed using a hydraulic jet plow, an industry standard. We will prioritize cable burying at 6 ft., although this level of burial will not be possible 100% of the way. Our research shows that the cable can be buried the majority of the way between the Test Site and the two potential landing locations. Where the cable can t be buried, we plan to mattress the cable with concrete or run the cable through protective conduit which would be resistant to snagging on nets. The cable and its protective conduit is smaller than rocks/boulders seen on ledges. This is standard practice for subsea cables throughout the U.S. and across the globe according to LS Cable, an international cable installer. This same cable installer and installation method was used to install a cable between Rockport and North Haven Island. The 9.9-mile cable is buried 6 deep in the mud of Penobscot Bay, 9 the same depth is what MAV will be doing where possible with its cable. We are aware of ledges/ridges running between the Test Site and East Boothbay. A subsea geophysical survey will determine its maximum burial ability on this proposed route. The cable will be installed using a hydraulic jet plow. This will temporarily result in an approximately 13 wide trough, and the cable will be installed simultaneously by the plow. The jet plow operates at a rate of about 100 meters/hour. Cable length from the Test Site to East Boothbay would be approximately 21.7 miles; from the Test Site to St. George would be about 22.7 miles. Bottom-disturbing activities associated with installation of the subsea cable could temporarily increase suspended sediments and turbidity in nearby habitats. The extent of these impacts will depend on local sediment type, current circulation patterns, and burial techniques used. Construction activities will be relatively short-term and localized with water quality conditions likely recovering completely without mitigation once construction is complete. Although individuals or populations may be affected by noise and activity from laying cable, these activities are temporary and will not have long-term impacts. 5 A recent study by Applied Sciences Associates, Inc., who studied the suspended sediment resulting from the installation of a proposed 77-mile, 1,000 MW cable (approximately 80 times the power capacity of the proposed MAV cable) in New York suggest that sediment returns to ambient conditions in as little as 24 hours after the jetting occurs 10. 2

The cable has three-phase insulated conductors with an electrical shield and is mechanically protected by armor.

3 Cable Overview Typical jet plow and simultaneous cable installation. The cable is roughly 5.5 in diameter and will run from the Monhegan Island Test Site to the mainland connection either in East Boothbay or St. George. The cable has three-phase insulated conductors with an electrical shield and is mechanically protected by armor. The cable has multiple layers of electrical insulation and mechanical protection, including a double-layer of galvanized steel armor. The medium voltage cable is encased in conductive sheathing (armoring), which inhibits electromagnetic fields from entering the surrounding environment. The cable is sized for the two turbines; additional turbines cannot be added to the cable. The alternating current cable transmits power at 34.5 kv. Example of a subsea cable. Fiber optic strands can be seen in the center of the cable. The cable has a 5.5" outer diameter. There currently are many cables along the coast of Maine, and countless cables along the East coast. Electrical cables do not pose a threat to marine life, and this is supported by significant evidence in the U.S. and abroad. 8 The Project is obligated to submit a decommissioning plan as part of its permit application to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. This decommissioning plan will be widely circulated and made available for public comment as part of the permit application process 11. 3

4 This figure shows seabed depth and gradient between the Monhegan Test Site and East Boothbay based on available data. A subsea cable survey will need to be conducted to fully understand the ocean floor between these two locations. 4

5 This figure shows seabed depth and gradient between the Monhegan Test Site and St. George based on available data. A subsea cable survey will need to be conducted to fully understand the ocean floor between these two locations. 5

6 Maine Aqua Ventus Overview There is a major international competition to develop floating wind hull technologies. UMaine s technology has successfully competed against 70 other projects since This project, hosted by Maine, is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy whose goal is to demonstrate that this cost-effectively technology can be used anywhere in the U.S. New England Aqua Ventus I is the only current project supported by the US government, making this project of critical national importance. So far, Aqua Ventus has been awarded $10.7M from the DOE to advance its designs and permitting efforts, and a milestone contract for and additional $40M. New England Aqua Ventus I is a 12 MW floating offshore wind research and development project. Project participants include Cianbro Corporation, the University of Maine, and Naval Energies. The floating offshore wind turbine platforms and column segments will be fabricated and assembled at an existing industrial facility adjacent to the Penobscot River in Brewer. Turbine components will be assembled on the hull in Searsport and subsequently towed to the UMaine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site at Monhegan Island. Electricity will be sold to Central Maine Power to help finance the research project; electricity will go to the nearest load point. References 1 Dr. Robert Steneck, University of Maine Darling Marine Center Caddy, J. F. (1973). Underwater observations on tracks of dredges and trawls and some effects of dredging on a scallop ground. Journal of the Fisheries Board of Canada, 30(2), Currie, David R., and Gregory D. Parry. "Impacts and efficiency of scallop dredging on different soft substrates." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 56, no. 4 (1999): Jenkins, S. R., B. D. Beukers-Stewart, and A. R. Brand. "Impact of scallop dredging on benthic megafauna: a comparison of damage levels in captured and non-captured organisms." Marine Ecology Progress Series 215 (2001): Offshore Wind Undersea Cable Impacts on Lobsters, Ecology & Environment Inc., February Peter J. Auster, Richard J. Malatesta, Richard W. Langton, Les Watting, Page C. Valentine, Carol Lee S. Donaldson, Elizabeth W. Langton, Andrew N. Shepard & War G. Babb (2008) The impacts of mobile fishing gear on seafloor habitats in the gulf of Maine (Northwest Atlantic): Implications for conservation of fish populations, Reviews in Fisheries Science, 4:2, , DOI: / Renewable Energy in situ Power Cable Observation Final Report, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Fox Islands Electric Cooperative, Inc., _app35_modeling_sediment_dispersion_cable_burial_srp_little_bay.pdf 11 See Section 3 (G) (1) - 6

Western Isles HVDC Link Consultation

Western Isles HVDC Link Consultation Western Isles HVDC Link Consultation Who we are We are Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, operating under licence as Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc