NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: Offshore Wind in Scotland

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

Offshore wind remains one of the most consequential and controversial issues here on the Coast.

Oregon’s waters are inching closer to generating renewable electricity using floating offshore wind turbines, though any construction is still years away. In February, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, proposed two locations off Coos Bay and Brookings, totaling nearly 195,000 acres of potential wind development. Shortly after, BOEM announced it was preparing to accept proposals to develop in those areas, but first needed to finalize the environmental assessment. The assessment, completed this month, concluded that lease issuance would “have no significant impacts on people or the environment”.

This environmental assessment focuses solely on the activities that will occur after a lease auction – not on the environmental impacts of the construction or the final projects themselves.

In other words, this assessment looked at the impacts of site surveys that could include the deployment of buoys to measure wind conditions, collection of geological and biological samples on the ocean floor, or trips on boats or underwater vehicles to analyze these potential wind energy sites.

It is important to understand that the proposed wind farm locations are in federal waters and outside Oregon’s Territorial Sea.

As the demand for more renewable energy increases nationwide, there is pressure to utilize ocean winds to generate more power and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. BOEM estimates Oregon’s coast could have the potential to power more than one million homes with wind energy. But the push for floating offshore wind has driven residents, commercial fishing groups, tribes, and ultimately, the Oregon Legislature to call on federal regulators to halt the leasing of the areas until there is a better understanding of environmental and cultural effects.

With so much at stake for our coastal future, I took the opportunity this past week to visit floating wind facilities in Aberdeen, Scotland.

It was a full business schedule as we met with the floating wind industries, ports, fishermen, and visited the wind farms themselves. Our group included renewable energy advocates, organized labor, scientists, tribal representation, fishermen, and legislators.

Ten miles offshore, we visited five massive 9.5 mw turbines. Each blade is about 250 feet long with a roughly 500-foot rotor circumference. The towers holding the blades stand 350 feet. Each blade weighs about 35 tons with a rotor tip speed of over 200 miles per hour. (Oregon is being considered for 20 mw turbines which are taller with larger platforms.)

To be honest, I’m not good on small boats and the notion of motoring out into the North Sea and bouncing around under these giant blades was a bit daunting. Most of us were sopping wet by the end of the tour.

Throughout the trip, I tried to offer the perspective of both a legislator from the central coast and also as chair of the legislative Coastal Caucus. My district is not close to the lease areas proposed by BOEM, but we are home to the largest fishing fleet that works those waters. Our influence is limited since the sites are not in Oregon but rather in federal waters off our coast. We’re not even sure the power produced will come here! We need good clean jobs on the southern coast. I wanted to learn how such developments would affect our ecology and our economy. And it was important to me that our coastal communities, our Tribes, our industries, and our people be involved in these decisions critical to our collective future.

Remember, the Coastal Caucus has formally requested a pause while we seek answers to these questions. And in Salem, I was the chief co-sponsor of legislation authored by Representative Dacia Grayber seeking to create a “roadmap” to wind energy development.

HB 4080’s Offshore Wind roadmap directive will help ensure robust input from impacted communities on the potential of Offshore Wind Development off our coast and must include investigating economic opportunities and sustainment of existing local and regional economies. It also ensures strong labor standards for any future development.

Scotland has a robust presence in the offshore wind industry, playing a key role in the innovation of floating offshore wind farms. As the country aims to reach 8-11 gw of offshore wind by 2030, Scotland’s emphasis on floating turbines has led to the development of one of the world’s largest floating wind projects once it is constructed. Aberdeen is Scotland’s energy epicenter and our itinerary was intended to learn much, see many, and fully review the breadth of Aberdeen’s experience.

Here’s a list of the places we went and the people we saw:

GLOBAL UNDERWATER HUB – The Global Underwater Hub is an organization dedicated to championing all sectors operating in the UK underwater industry. GUB is comprised of roughly 300 member organizations that include companies engaged in offshore energy, aquaculture, telecoms, and defense.

INTERMOOR – InterMoor specializes in mooring, both temporary and permanent. At the Port of Montrose, the main operation site for all UK moorings, the company offers services vital for the installation of offshore wind turbines, including subsea cables and foundations. InterMoor works on both floating and fixed turbines, ensuring that successful energy generation can take place in any circumstance.

KINCARDINE FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND FARM – 15 km (just over 9 miles) off the coast of Aberdeen, and in waters ranging from 200 ft to 262 ft deep, five Principle Power WindFloat units hosting five 9.5 MW turbines rise to form the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world and the most powerful wind turbine ever installed on a floating platform. The Kincardine Offshore Windfarm is capable of powering nearly 35,000 homes in Scotland.

PRINCIPLE POWER – Principle Power is a leading global technology and services provider for the floating offshore wind energy market. Principle Power’s globally patented floating platform technology, the WindFloat, enables offshore wind turbines to be sited in any water depth or seabed condition.

ORE CATAPULT FLOATING WIND CENTER – Established in 2019, the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence aims to accelerate the commercialization of floating offshore wind in the UK. The center has laid the foundations for the increased deployment of floating offshore wind, increasing the offshore wind industry’s ability to make floating wind farms a widespread reality. The center also compiles data on the industry’s commercialization, working across interrelated and diverse areas to understand commercialization and develop industrial strategy.

PORT OF ABERDEEN – The Port of Aberdeen is the main commercial port in northeast Scotland. In 2021, it handled 3.3 million tons of cargo and a total vessel tonnage of 21.3 million gross tons. Its users include cargo, cruises, and ferries. The port has been the base for the UK’s North Sea oil and gas industry since the 1970s. It is now the leading offshore energy hub in Europe, with expertise in manufacturing, planning and development, installation, commissioning, operations, maintenance, and repowering and decommissioning. The Port of Aberdeen’s South Harbor is a £400 million (roughly $528 million) investment project to accommodate the growth of Scotland’s offshore wind, including a landmark offshore wind and hydrogen generation project.

PORT OF MONTROSE – The Port of Montrose is another important port on Scotland’s East Coast. Committed to the offshore wind industry, the port offers robust service operations supporting the construction and maintenance of offshore wind turbines. In 2019, the port was chosen as the O&M base for the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm, which will generate 1,075 mw of energy.

SCOTTISH FISHERMEN’S FEDERATION – The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) is an industry organization set up in 1973 to preserve and protect the interests of the fishermen within the membership of its Constituent Associations. Those Associations represent a wide spectrum of the Scottish fishing fleet. Geographically diverse and including everything from small inshore vessels to large trawlers.

W3G MARINE – Based in Aberdeen, W3G Marine specializes in marine and subsea equipment and services. The organization is heavily involved in the installation of offshore wind and other renewable projects, and it has expanded operations into floating turbine territory as well.

As I said, the group included renewable energy advocates, organized labor, scientists, Tribes, fishermen, and legislators.

ASHLEY AUDYCKI: South Coast Coordinator, Rogue Climate
JENA CARTER: Oregon Coast and Marine Director, The Nature Conservancy
BOBBY COCHRAN: Senior Mediator, Oregon Consensus
NICK EDWARDS: Secretary SPMC, Shrimp Producers Marketing Cooperative Commissioner of the International Port of Coos Bay
RANFIS GIANNETTINO VILLATORO: Oregon Senior Policy Manager, BlueGreen Alliance
DACIA GRAYBER: State Representative
DAVID GOMBERG: State Representative
LUKE HARKINS: Chief of Staff – State Rep. David Gomberg
NICOLE HUGHES: Executive Director, Renewable Northwest
SARAH HENKEL: Associate Professor, Integrative Biology & Associate Director, Pacific Marine Energy Center, Oregon State University
ANDY LANIER: Marine Affairs Coordinator, Oregon Coastal Management Program
CASEY MACLEAN: Offshore Wind Policy Manager, Renewable Northwest
REUBEN MARTINEZ: Energy Program Manager, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
RICK OSBORN: President, Blue Ridge Strategies
BRAD PETTINGER: Commercial Fisher & Chair, Pacific Fisheries Management Council
GRAHAM TRAINOR: President, Oregon AFL-CIO
ROBERT WESTERMAN: Business Manager, IBEW Local Union 932
LEXIE WOODWARD: Executive Director, South Coast Development Council

That’s the detail of who we are and where we went. As I write this, I’ve been home about twelve hours. Give me a few days to digest my notes, and next week I’ll outline what we learned.

There is nothing that brings your legislative ego back down to earth like going to the Post Office and finding the recycle bin filled with pictures of your smiling face….

Nonetheless, in the next few days, you should be seeing an update from my office detailing our work for you over the past year. We’ve prepared separate reports for Lincoln City and North County, Depoe Bay, Newport, Toledo and Siletz, Waldport and Yachats, and Philomath, Monroe, and western Lane County.

The mailers detail the investments we’ve brought home and include comments from local mayors, city managers, ports, non-profits, businesses, and our colleges and universities. This is part of our effort to reach out beyond our weekly email lists and keep more local citizens informed about results from Salem.

Since I’ve been away, I don’t have much to report from the District over the past week. But now that I’m back, expect to see me out and about again.

I have meetings with Elakha Alliance to discuss otters and AARP to discuss age-based workplace discrimination. I’ll sit down with old friends who purchased “Lunch with your Legislator” at a Community College fundraiser. I hope to catch a Lincoln County Schools update with the Lincoln City Chamber. I’ll meet with Lincoln County to learn more about wildfire recovery. I hope to attend the NOAA Marine Operations Center Change of Command. And Saturday, Susan and I will enjoy a Halie Loren concert at the Cultural Center as part of our 38^th Anniversary Celebration.

Let me close today with a correction and apology.

Last week, my newsletter included mention of the monthly Mayors Breakfast. I showed you a photo. But in my rush to write before leaving for the airport, I really really messed up everyone’s name. Some of you may have noticed.

Clockwise from the top, that’s Commissioner Casey Miller, myself, Mayor Short of Depoe Bay, Mayor Holland of Waldport, Mayor Wahlke of Lincoln City, Mayor Berdie of Yachats, and Mayor Cross of Toledo. (Not pictured, Mayor Kaplan of Newport and Mayor Worman of Siletz.)

I wrote the Mayors from Scotland to apologize, and I repeat that apology here. Thank you for your understanding and good humor!