Unsolicited Application for a Section 585 Commercial Wind Lease on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore of the South Coast of Oahu

From Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind, Inc. Oct 2015   (With additional information in parenthesis to enhance accuracy)

Excerpt from pg 1:

Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind, Inc. (“Progression”) is pleased to submit this unsolicited application for a Section 585 Commercial Lease on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore the south coast of Oahu pursuant to 30 CFR 585.230(f) (the “Application”). Progression proposes an up to 400MW floating offshore wind project (“Project”).

The Project will utilize Principle Power’s WindFloat semi-submersible floating foundation and a leading offshore wind turbine with a nameplate capacity of between 8-10MW (one WindFloat, turbine, together with associated infrastructure, is a “WindFloat Unit” or “Unit”).

Depending on the turbine nameplate capacity, the entire project will comprise between 40 to 50 WindFloat Units (40 of 50 will soon be non-operational based on experience in Europe) sited approximately 1 to 1.5 miles apart. Subject to further seafloor analysis, the Units will likely be anchored to the sea floor (in an explosives dumping zone—see below) with drag embedded anchors and connected with one another via a submerged low-voltage collection system. The collection system will collect the electricity from all of the WindFloat Units to a floating substation. The substation will transform the Project voltage to 138kV, which is the voltage of the HECO High Voltage Alternating Current (“HVAC”) grid, and transmit the Project’s electricity via 2 HVAC cables to land….

Excerpt from pg 9:

Members of the Progression team, joined by Principle Power, then conducted more than 100 stakeholder meetings between 2012-2015 to determine the feasibility of the sites chosen and the general level of acceptance for the concept of a floating offshore wind project near the island of Oahu.

Of the five sites proposed to stakeholders, there was sufficient support for the consideration of the Project Site by stakeholders leading to its submission in this lease Application. Progression also received strong feedback across a range of stakeholders that the other four sites would be untenable. According to stakeholders, the North Shore Sites were too visible from North Shore beaches and communities, and too close to sensitive biological resources. The sites in the Oahu/Molokai channel were thought to be untenable due to shipping traffic, visuals from both Oahu and Molokai, and Native Hawaiian interests and canoe races such as the Molokaʻi Hoe, which is in its 63rd year.

Progression will continue stakeholder engagement in relation to this proposed Project Site and recognizes that there are still military interests to address. Regarding outreach to the military, the Progression Team has been working with the military at a number of different levels in order to successfully site the Project. Progression has met with personnel within the Navy Secretariat, Navy N45, COMSUBPAC and other operational personnel, and the Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse. Progression will also coordinate with BOEM, the Department of Defense, and the Military Services through BOEM’s state task force (defined in 30 CFR Part 585) and the Pentagon’s mission compatibility review process (defined in 32 CFR Part 211). Through all of these processes, Progression hopes to site an economically viable project while impacting military interests as little as possible.

(Translation: Nobody wants this thing near them including the Navy.)

PDF: Map Shows Windfarm Blocking Entrance to Pearl Harbor

Excerpt from pg 25:

The WindFloat Units will rely on standard towing vessels to deploy them or bring them into harbor in the unlikely event that (every time) major repairs are needed.

(Translation: Honolulu Harbor will need lots of space for rusting wind junk.  Some European floating wind farms report 80% of turbines out of commission.  Will there be room left for cargo ships in Honolulu Harbor?)

Excerpt from pg 45:

4.2.10 Hazards Progression reviewed known locations of wrecks, submerged buoys, obstructions, dumping areas, explosive dumping areas, and unexploded ordnance (Figure 20). There also exists additional military ordinance that was located by SOEST as a part of the Hawaii Undersea Military Munitions Assessment (“HUMMA”). Finally, the southeast section of the Site Area is coterminous with (has the same boundaries as) a designated explosive dumping area. Progression will further study these areas and coordinate with agencies and stakeholders during the development of the Project. As final cable design and routing decisions are made, Progression plans to avoid areas of high concentration of hazards.

read … Hawaoo OCS Lease Application

REALITY: Rusting Windfarm Junk off Waikiki: Europe's Disaster Coming to Hawaiian Waters

SA: Wind farm’s proposal released