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Aug 10, 2023

Ørsted to begin seafloor exploration for Skipjack

Staff Reporter The RV Shackelford is a U.S.-flagged ship with a catamaran hull that provides a floating science lab for the geophysical survey and marine impacts study with geologists and marine

Staff Reporter

The RV Shackelford is a U.S.-flagged ship with a catamaran hull that provides a floating science lab for the geophysical survey and marine impacts study with geologists and marine biologists. It will begin research off Delaware Seashore State Park on Sept. 9 for the Skipjack wind-farm project.

A large 73-foot scientific exploration vessel will be moored off Delaware Seashore State Park starting Saturday, Sept. 9, for seafloor geophysical exploration and to “grab” samples of the ocean bed on behalf of Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind, a renewable-energy company. The goal is to survey the ocean floor and consider options for future landfall of cabling and energy transmission lines from offshore wind turbines based in Maryland waters.

The cable landfall must reach the PJM interconnection facility near Bethany Beach by tunneling under the dunes, at the power substation at Kent Avenue. The PJM interconnection will also likely require a power-grid upgrade to the existing facilities to meet the technical requirements of the Skipjack Wind power delivery, according to a PJM “interconnection impact study” completed in 2022. Delaware Power & Light maintains the 138-kilowatt power substation to service electric utility customers. Once installed, the proposed offshore wind project will provide power to nearly 300,000 homes in the region, largely in Maryland.

The RV Shackelford is a U.S.-flagged ship with a catamaran hull that provides a floating science lab for the geophysical survey and marine impacts study with geologists and marine biologists.

“This work is a critical step forward in our plan to deliver clean energy to nearly 300,000 homes in the region, make significant investments in Delaware’s energy infrastructure, and create good-paying jobs for Delaware workers,” said Chris Bason, Ørsted’s stakeholder relations lead for Delaware and former executive director of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays. “We look forward to continuing our dialogue with communities in Sussex County and across Delaware about Skipjack Wind and its significant benefits for residents, workers and the environment.”

The offshore wind industry is subject to stringent standards for marine mammal protection during offshore surveys, including 10-knot speed restrictions and trained observers onboard to watch for marine mammals and protected species 24 hours a day. The ocean floor survey work is expected to be conducted from Sept. 9 until Oct. 5, or perhaps several days longer, depending on weather and other study conditions, said Ørsted representatives.

“We will be collecting grab samples to support the mapping work, and there will be no boring work, as this is a survey of the shallow subsurface of the ocean floor,” said Bason. “We are only going to be in federal waters from near shore to about 6 miles out, and close to shore at the Delaware Seashore State Park.”

“We are developing a construction operations plan now,” said Bason. He has been conducting community outreach programs, including a recent informational session at St. Martha’s Episcopal Church in Bethany Beach, where a virtual-reality tour of an offshore wind farm could be viewed.

“People experience it through the V.R., and they love it,” said Bason of the simulation, which showcases a project off the coast of England that was also featured on “60 Minutes.” “Wind is a new American industry and people want to know about it,” said Bason, an Ocean View resident.

Skipjack Wind offshore wind projects are slated to deliver some 966-megawatts of power.

“We don’t want any encounters with protected marine life,” said Bason. “We have protected species observers (PSOs) working with us at all times, on the lookout for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals or species. We track and record all the marine mammals we see and use visual enhancement technologies. We want to avoid any disturbances.”

Bason added that survey work would be stopped in the event of North American right whale passages, as the whales are particularly endangered.

The September-October timeframe is also a major Atlantic flyway season for migratory birds and songbirds, including warblers. Bason noted he has seen many warblers while out fishing or surfing in these very same waters near the state park.

Benefits for Delaware —

beyond the grid upgrades

Bason noted that the Skipjack I and II projects, while sited offshore of Maryland, will have major benefits for Delaware families and the economy. Skipjack I will be situated 26 miles offshore from Ocean City, Md., and has been met with some resistance by Mayor Richard W. Meehan and residents concerned about the “viewshed” of the 800-foot wind turbine blades.

“There are lots of benefits from offshore wind for Delaware, too,” said Bason. “We are bringing nearly 1 Gigawatt (966-megawatts) of clean, renewable energy to all of Delmarva. The carbon pollution reduction numbers are huge, with 38 million metric tons of carbon reduction in our atmosphere — and that’s air we all breathe. Ørsted and Skipjack Wind will also reduce 30,000 tons of nitrogen and other respiratory pollution threats from chemicals.”

“We have local project labor agreements already in place, and it will be all union labor with our master agreement with the North American Building Trades organizations and the connecting work,” said Bason. “These are all good things that you don’t necessary expect out of our transition to a green economy.”

Bason noted that he personally supported recent Delaware legislative efforts to study wind power procurement under Senate Bill 170, sponsored by state Sen. Stephanie Hansen. While not a fait accompli for wind power, “It is wise to study and plan for best practices that could bring Delaware offshore wind in the future.”

In Ocean City, N.J., citizens’ organizations recently lost a court case battle to prevent underground beach cabling and onshoring of wind power. On Friday, Aug. 25, the Cape May (N.J.) County Clerk’s office said that Ocean Wind 1 could proceed with these tunneling plans for cable, based on a Superior Court ruling.

The New Jersey Superior Court granted a land easement to an offshore wind company to bring power cables onshore under the beach and streets of Ocean City. The lines would eventually lead to a previously decommissioned coal-powered power plant 7 miles away.

There has been similar consideration of the conversion of the 410 megawatt NRG Energy coal-fired power plant near Dagsboro to serve as a future terminal for clean energy from wind, locally, which is about 10 miles away.

Staff Reporter

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