BRIEF OVERVIEW: In 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) awarded two lease areas 20-30 miles west of Humboldt Bay to offshore wind developers. BOEM’s environmental review process for offshore wind development is separated into two analyses. First is environmental impact assessment of the impacts of the studies that need to be done, such as the use of buoys, radar, and sonar. Next, after studies of the lease areas are complete, Environmental Impact Statements will analyze impacts from construction and operation of the wind turbines. These processes will be done separately for the two lease areas.Also in 2022, the California Coastal Commission reviewed plans for studying marine life in the proposed Humboldt Wind Energy Area, 21 miles west of Humboldt Bay. We submitted these comments and these comments. The plans for studies were approved with seven conditions, including a vessel speed limit of 10 knots (11.5 mph) to decrease the likelihood of collisions with whales and other marine mammals.In 2023, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District issued a Notice of Preparation for the proposed Heavy Lift Terminal in Samoa. We submitted these comments on the potential impacts that must be addressed in the Draft EIR, which is being developed. For more info, check out the website we developed with colleagues at EPIC and CORE Hub: FAQs on Offshore Wind Energy.LATEST NEWS on Offshore Wind Energy:
The Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) released a historic research plan that sets priorities for all stakeholders to fully avoid, minimize, and mitigate any harms to wildlife caused by offshore wind energy development in much of the U.S. Atlantic Ocean. The new plan is the first of its kind in establishing a collaborative regional approach to study potential effects of offshore wind on birds as well as marine mammals, sea turtles, bats, fish, and ocean habitats along the East Coast.Read More
A tiny government organization with authority over a major wind project off the Humboldt County coast is voting tonight on a proposal to keep the port green.The Humboldt Bay Harbor District is proposing to draw up a strategy to keep emissions as minimal as possible at the port, where plans call for assembling 1,100-foot turbines to be tugged 30 miles offshore.It’s not yet clear what all that will take, particularly given challenges with transmission and distribution capacity in the region. An engineering firm is figuring it out. But local environmental organizations, residents, tribes and labor have made clear they’ll insist on it, said Jennifer Kalt, executive director of the nonprofit Humboldt Waterkeeper.“We have this renewable energy project, and we don’t want a fossil fuel-spewing port to go with that,” Kalt said.
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A new report from the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt evaluates potential scenarios for electric grid transmission development to support floating offshore wind along the northern coast of California and the southern coast of Oregon. The scenarios include onshore and offshore (undersea) transmission systems, with interconnections ranging from 7.2 to 25.8 gigawatts of generation capacity. The study encompasses multiple possible wind farm sites between Coos Bay, Oregon and Cape Mendocino, California, including the two currently awarded lease areas located 20 miles off California’s Humboldt Bay, and two Draft Wind Energy Areas near Brookings and Coos Bay, Oregon.
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As a 20-year Manila resident and a member of the Peninsula Community Collaborative (PCC), I feel the winds of change blowing and am paying close attention to the offshore wind projects slated to come to Humboldt Bay.Humboldt Bay and its offshore waters are becoming an integral part in the reduction of our reliance on fossil fuels. Currently, our harbor district is in negotiations with Crowley, a logistics and maritime service company based out of Jacksonville, Florida, to develop land in Samoa into a marine terminal. This port will be an industrial manufacturing plant that builds and ships out various components of offshore wind turbines. Wind components will eventually be shipped out to wind energy farms off of Humboldt shores and throughout the coasts of California and Oregon.
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U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) announced Thursday that more than $8.6 million has been awarded to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District to go toward the development of an offshore wind terminal in Humboldt Bay.It’s the latest step for the wind terminal as California continues to try to reach their lofty clean energy goals of 100% carbon-free energy by 2045.“My district in Northern California has some of the best areas available to help meet the administration’s offshore wind energy goals, and I’m glad I could help secure this grant to support the development of one of the first offshore wind projects on the West Coast,” Huffman said in a prepared statement.Huffman lauded the funding noting that the awarded money will go toward “studies, site design, and permitting activities for a heavy-lift offshore wind terminal at the Redwood Marine Terminal. The grant will also fund the creation of a bay-wide master plan for offshore wind development and project management and grant administration expenses.”The Redwood Marine Terminal was the lone offshore wind farm development project on the West Coast to receive funding.Read More
