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Offshore wind

Lessons from OSW Projects in Europe and the US Atlantic Coast

Research provided by Matt Gove, Mid-Atlantic Policy Manager, Surfrider Foundation.

mgove@surfrider.org

9/14/2023

Morro Bay Wind Energy Area research provided by Jim Miers, Chair, Surfrider SLO Chapter and researchers Laura Pedersen, Jake McNevin, Case Adams, Grace Callan, & Hayden Ventrella.

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Matt Gove Bio

Currently Mid-Atlantic Policy Manager for Surfrider Foundation

Worked in coastal management for more than seventeen years with:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation

Masters in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke University

Lecturer at Columbia University in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

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Each Turbine is 12-15 MW

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positive and Potential Negative impacts

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Impacts Have Been Minimal�

Growing evidence that impacts of offshore wind farms are relatively small compared to benefits of clean energy produced by OSW.

A 2017 study by European Climate Foundation found offshore wind farms have "negligible" impact on marine life

Mitigation techniques have been developed in Europe:

Bird & bat friendly designs reduce collisions
Siting wind farms carefully limits impact on marine life & coastal aesthetics
Noise-reducing technologies reduce underwater noise
Monitoring impacts & adapting mitigation measures as needed.

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positive and Potential negative impacts

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POSITIVE IMPACTS

Reduces carbon pollution--climate change
Reduces air pollution in EJ communities
Competitive priced domestic energy
Efficiently meets new energy needs
Creates sustainable jobs
Creates artificial reefs

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Carbon & Mortalities Avoided

MB WEA has potential for 6GW generating capacity with turbines operating 30% of time (capacity factor)

335 MTonnes CO2 emissions avoided by 30 year project life

If assume 2.3 degree peak global warming scenario, then benefits of avoided emissions through year 2070:

12,000 lives saved solely from heat-related mortalities
390,000 fewer refugees from shrinking sustainable climate niche

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Potential positive and negative impacts

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POTENTIAL NEGATIVE IMPACTS

Altering of coastal views
Birds and bats displaced or injured
Construction noise/boats displaces or injures marine mammals, fish, and turtles
EMF confuses wildlife
Fishermen access hindered
Impacts to oceanographic features (eg cold pool)
Onshore transmission cable impacts
Cumulative Impacts

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Noise or ship strikes: whales

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Risks from OSW Vessel Strikes

Known primary causes of deaths: fishing gear entanglement and vessel strikes.
Percentage of ship strikes from OSW vessels will be low.

a. Thousands of large vessels operating offshore

b. OSW vessels have 24 hour marine mammal spotters.

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Risks of Sonar for OSW Site Mapping

OSW mapping goes down hundreds of feet, but miles for offshore oil and gas--so magnitude is completely different.
The type of sound used by offshore wind is also different--mostly out of the hearing range of humpbacks.

For decades, whale beachings have always been associated with military sonar and the oil and gas industry.
By contrast, the type of equipment being used for offshore wind is used all the time in oceanographic research--never been a correlation.

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Birds and bats displaced or injured

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EMF confuses wildlife

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"No mechanism by which EMFs could cause cancer has been identified"

"No consistent evidence for an association between any source of EMF and cancer has been found.“

National Cancer Institute, May 2022

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Fishermen access hindered

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Altering of coastal views

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BOEM Visual Simulations of MB WEA

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management assessment of potential visual impacts:

Turbines will not be visible from all parts of the coast.
Not visible from most beaches in Morro Bay.
Turbines more visible at night as they would be lit up due to aviation safety regulations.
Turbines would be most visible from Morro Rock and Cerro Cabrillo and less visible from other parts of the coast.

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Views from Key Observation Points (KOPs)

KOPs are:

Based on stakeholder interests
Critical locations from which potential visual impacts of a project are assessed
selected based on proximity, elevation, & viewshed representativeness

Morro Bay Offshore Wind Energy Call Area KOPs

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Limekiln State Park
Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
Valencia Peak, Montana De Oro State Park

Most are imperceptible; a few are barely perceptible on horizon

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650 ft turbine at 23 miles

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850 ft turbine at 20 miles

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Monitoring & adaption

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Development Agreements Must Have:

STANDARDIZED MONITORING

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

Collaborate with:

Regional Wildlife Science Collaboratives

Fed, state, eNGOs, wind industry

See following east coast examples

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SF Collaborates With National Wildlife Foundation

The National Wildlife Federation is largest conservation organization in US

Over 6 million members and supporters.
By comparison, Sierra Club has 1 million members

NWF says it supports responsible OSW because:

Climate Change is an existential threat to the wildlife they seek to protect.
OSW has immense potential to decarbonize energy, provide quality jobs and directly benefit communities and ecosystems where they are built.

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resources

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