PROVIDENDCE – Offshore wind energy development has positive and negative effects in several areas, but it is too early in the deployment of commercial offshore wind projects to know the full extent of some of those impacts, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The office convened a panel of 23 experts, with assistance from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, to look at the impacts of offshore wind construction on marine life, fisheries, maritime navigation and defense radar systems.
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The report was critical of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for not adequately engaging residents, commercial fisheries and Native American tribes, who reported that the bureau’s responses to input has to date been “unclear or insufficient.”
The report goes on to say that it was not clear how the bureau ensures that stakeholders are included in the process.
As for the effects of development on marine life, the report included input from seven experts who said that building offshore wind structures can create a new habitat that benefits some fish and other marine life, known as an “artificial reef effect,” with three experts agreeing that this effect has been demonstrated on multiple offshore wind projects, including the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm, which generates approximately 18,400 megawatt-hours of electricity per year for New Shoreham residents.
The report also said that acoustic surveys used during offshore wind development are “unlikely” to harm marine mammals and it found no evidence linking wind activity to recent whale strandings.
Recommendations to reduce negative impacts included better coordination with tribal and fishing industry stakeholders and the creation of a new federal office to oversee offshore wind development in the Northeast.
The report also projected that offshore wind could help cut greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by up to 5% by 2035.
“Wind development could bring jobs and investment to communities,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office wrote. “At the same time, it could disrupt commercial fishing to varying degrees. Turbines could also affect radar system performance, alter search and rescue methods, and alter historic and cultural landscapes.”
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
