Offshore Wind Development Is Coming to the Gulf of Mexico ( continued from page 6 )
less energy generation and capacity . ( See
Gulf of Mexico will benefit from coming wave of US offshore .) Additionally , in the GoM , the physical structures will have to survive the onslaught of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes far more frequently than along the East Coast , which means that the physical structures seemingly must be more robust and resilient . In turn , this is likely to drive up construction , maintenance , and repair costs .
COSTS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN Even in the Northeast , where states and local governments support OSW , everything has not gone smoothly . For example , Avangrid , the prime mover behind Commonwealth Wind , pulled out of Massachusetts ’ OSW procurement in December 2022 , concluding that the project is no longer viable under the contract conditions reached with the Electric Distribution Companies because of historic price increases for global commodities , interest-rate hikes , prolonged inflation , and continued supply-chain constraints . ( See
Avangrid pulls out of major Mass . offshore wind procurement .) The dispute is ongoing .
LACK OF VESSELS AND CREWS Another critical supply chain issue is the lack of U . S . -flag installation vessels . Only one vessel is currently under construction by Dominion Energy and its partners at the Keppel AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville , Texas . This vessel , named Charybdis , will be deployed to work on the Northeast wind farms as demand develops . To date , OSW developers have employed a combination of foreign vessels — for installation of platforms and turbines — and domestic or Jones Act feeder barges and vessels for operations and maintenance . The Jones Act requires that only U . S . -flag ships carry personnel or merchandise between points in the United States . U . S . shipyards are stepping up to build more Jones Act vessels to support the OSW industry , including St . Johns Shipbuilding ( constructing six crew transfer vessels ), Philly Shipyard ( building a subsea rock installation vessel ), and Edison Chouest ( fabricating a wind farm service operations vessel ). ( See
St . Johns Ship Building Begins Construction on Jones Act Crew Transfer Vessels for Offshore Wind Market ;
ABS to class Jones Act-compliant subsea rock installation vessel ;
Edison Chouest Offshore Signs Empire Wind SOV Contract .) We only hope the workforce can match the demand .
AVIAN IMPACT What gets lost in the hoopla about wind farms is their damaging impact on migratory birds , which fly through the wind routes where such farms are placed . The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it a misdemeanor criminal offense to “ take … or kill ” migratory birds “ by any means or in any manner .” Robert J . Martin and Rob Ballard , “ Reconciling the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with Expanding Wind Energy to
Keep Big Wheels Turning and Endangered Bird Flying ,” 20 Animal Law Review 145 , 149 ( 2013 ). The potential punishment is a $ 15,000 fine and / or six months in prison for each conviction . Id . As a strict-liability statute , intent is irrelevant . Id . More than 1,000 bird species are covered by the Act . Id . at 148 .
By contrast , the Endangered Species Act authorizes the issuance of permits for incidental takings by the U . S . Fish and Wildlife Service (“ FWS ”), which is also charged with enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act , but the latter Act does not authorize citizen suits , and so enforcement is left up to the FWS , which has not actively prosecuted many cases . Id . at 150 . Wind farm operators often seek permits from FWS under the Endangered Species Act to allow bird takings , and in the process FWS apparently ignores the requirements of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act . Id . at 151 .
The Climate Action Plan adopted by Louisiana projects that 4,470 construction and 150 operations jobs will be created from one offshore wind farm alone .
Another avian protection act , the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act , does not permit incidental takings or impose strict liability and only criminalizes knowing conduct Id .
It is hard to reconcile the application of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with the annual deaths of an estimated 538,000 to 1.17 million birds ( most of which are small songbirds ) via wind turbines — mostly onshore — as of 2021 . ( See
How Many Birds Are Killed by Wind Turbines ?) And the explosive growth and size of wind towers only continues . BOEM believes it has accounted for migratory bird flight paths by avoiding WEAs east of the Mississippi River and within 20 nautical miles of the coastline . Time will tell .
MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the “ taking ” of marine mammals in U . S . waters and by U . S . citizens on the high seas . “ Taking ” includes both the killing and harassment of marine mammals . Allegations have surfaced that offshore tower surveying activities ( by purportedly creating damaging sound and percussive vibrations ) are harming whales off the Mid-Atlantic Coast after nine whales have washed ashore since December 2022 .
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service ’ s current position is that “ there is no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site
7 • MAINBRACE