Advocating for Offshore Wind in Delaware
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Delaware Offshore Wind Events
DNREC Joint Permitting Hearing: US Wind Project
Virtual Event
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
6:00 pm
This will be a US Wind landfall support opportunity. You need to register by noon that day in order to speak. You can also send in written comments. If you’d like to speak in support, please Contact POWER so that a variety of topics is covered.
Register for Virtual Event
What’s New: Offshore Wind in Delaware
Delaware passes legislation to begin an offshore wind procurement process. (June 30, 2024)
WDEL reports that Delaware has taken a step toward building an offshore wind farm. State lawmakers have approved the Delaware Energy Solutions Act, which creates a procurement process. While supporters say the state is still a long way from a wind farm becoming a reality, this move will keep Delaware in a strategic position as neighboring states look to expand offshore wind facilities.
Delaware Offshore Wind Facts
Jobs
Where there’s an offshore wind project there will be jobs.
These jobs can be sorted into three categories: Direct (construction, engineering, etc.), Indirect (food trucks, manufacture of turbine components), and Operations and Maintenance (ongoing maintenance). If the project site is off the coast of Delaware, Delawareans will be able to apply for jobs in all three categories.
Health
There are health and climate benefits of offshore wind facilities in the mid-Atlantic United States.
Electricity from fossil fuels contributes substantially to both climate change and the health burden of air pollution.
Climate Change
Climate change is speeding toward catastrophe, UN panel says.
A new report says it is still possible to hold global warming to relatively safe levels, but doing so will require global cooperation, billions of dollars and big changes.
Fishing
Sports fishermen off Block Island, RI, find that the underwater structures of offshore wind turbines enhance fishing. Commercial fishermen have concerns.
The data shows that recreational anglers fare well near offshore wind turbines. Some commercial fishermen are troubled by the location of offshore wind turbines and the possibility of tangling their gear on the turbine underwater structures.
Tourism/Public Perception
Polls, visual simulations, research flesh out the picture of public reaction/response to offshore wind.
Delaware offshore wind developer specialists have worked out how an offshore wind farm will look under varying conditions, showing simulations to illustrate their point.
Making Landfall
Shore residents have a particular interest in how and where landfall will take place.
They want to know how it will look and if it will disturb the environment.
BOEM Lease Areas
View Bureau of Ocean Energy Management maps of the area off Delaware’s coast, and learn about BOEM hearings. What has POWER said at the hearings? What are DNREC’s comments?
BOEM controls all offshore wind activity 3 miles from the shore out to the edge of territorial waters.That is the area where offshore wind projects will be located. All federal permits required of offshore wind developers are handled by BOEM.
Birds
“Wind energy can be a powerful factor in protecting the birds that we love,” says the Audubon Society. Read about guidelines for protecting seafaring birds.
Bird lovers want to see birds protected, fearing deadly collisions. Climate change is an even greater threat, you will read.
Marine Mammals
There are no data or evidence linking whale mortalities to any one specific factor, including offshore wind development.
NOAA, the Marine Mammal Commission, and the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management all find no connection between whale strandings and offshore wind.