Leading Light Wind

🎉 Exciting news! Last week, Leading Light Wind celebrated the first-ever graduating class of the Wind Power Ready program! We're incredibly proud to have supported this innovative program to ensure that New Jersey students have access to top-tier training and job opportunities in the booming clean energy sector. Read more about the program and hear from recent graduate Raphjoyce Seignon: 

Building a domestic offshore wind supply chain can deliver economic benefits to dozens of states across the US - including noncoastal states far from shore. To-date, the industry has invested in steelmaking, shipbuilding, and component manufacturing in states including Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and more.

Our team is enjoying a busy summer connecting with our community! Thank you to Senator Smith for hosting a wonderful event to gather energy and environmental leaders from the across New Jersey (and sharing fresh, local produce from farms in the Garden State)! We are grateful for the commitment of those in office working tirelessly to ensure an equitable clean energy transition for all New Jerseyans. We also appreciated the opportunity to hear from Assemblywoman Donlon and Assemblywoman Peterpaul in a virtual event hosted by New Jersey LCV and learn more about their advocacy to improve coastal resilience. We were thrilled to attend NJMEP’s Women in Manufacturing Lunch to engage with women manufacturers and advance a strong community of leaders in the industry. Our team also attended the graduation ceremony for the first class of wind turbine technicians to complete the Wind Power Ready program. We are proud to support this program along with Rowan College of South Jersey, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), American Clean Power Association (ACP), Vestas, and Center For Family Services to help build an inclusive next-generation workforce for the clean energy sector. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ey-9YSDq

There are over 10,000 offshore wind turbines spinning around the world. The U.S. has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance American competitiveness in this growing global industry. Learn more about offshore wind at offshorewindfacts.org

Last week, our team attended NYSERDA’s State of the Science Workshop on Offshore Wind Energy, Wildlife, and Fisheries. The workshop informed participants on the integration of offshore wind with the marine environment, promoted regional coordination around marine research and monitoring efforts, and fostered collaboration between experts. NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris shared introductory remarks on the importance of enacting change responsibly – a core tenet of our development approach. Our team then spent the next few days engaging in sessions with Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA), Rutgers University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and other leading organizations at the intersection of marine science, policy, and innovation in clean energy. Leading Light Wind’s Carmen C. Bernett, PhD, ENV SP, Senior Manager of Environmental Compliance and Strategy, also presented on how non-extractive environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to monitor potential interactions of offshore wind development with the marine ecosystem. eDNA is a promising tool to reduce, mitigate and avoid impacts throughout standard survey activities, while still providing robust data collection for decision-making processes. Drawing on Leading Light Wind’s own eDNA studies within its lease area, the presentation highlighted the usefulness of eDNA in offshore wind development and shared preliminary results characterizing marine communities and species. Thank you to NYSERDA, the Environmental Technical Working Group (E-TWG), and the Fisheries Technical Working Group (F-TWG) for hosting such an insightful event. We look forward to continuing to work with all our incredible environmental and industry partners from across the region.

It’s been a busy few weeks for the Leading Light Wind team connecting with the community. We participated in New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)’s inaugural offshore wind open houses, which concluded the series in Atlantic City and proved invaluable in providing details about our project and gaining feedback from community members and local organizations. Our team also attended the Southern New Jersey Development Council (SNJDC) Clean Energy conference to discuss policy needs and strategies for a clean energy future, and our Community Engagement Manager Sarah Dougherty presented our project to the SNJDC Board of Trustees. At the New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council Conference, our Economic Development Director Jeff Lee Romero connected with our labor partners from across the state. The team also headed to NYSERDA’s State of the Science Workshop on Offshore Wind Energy, Wildlife, and Fisheries to participate in discussions around the latest advancements in marine monitoring and mitigation measures as well as opportunities for regional, cross-sector collaboration.

As part of a broader NYSERDA-funded Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) project in the New York Bight lease areas, Wildlife Conservation Society has deployed one PAM receiver in the Leading Light Wind lease area. This SoundTrap acoustic recorder will monitor the presence of cetaceans, including whales and dolphins, as well as ambient noise, over a period of two years. Recorders are bottom mounted and suspended approximately two meters above the seafloor using a leave-no-trace design.     Read more via our latest Mariner Update here:  https://lnkd.in/es_Ttuim

🗞 V8 of our newsletter Currents is out! Read about our community engagement highlights, ongoing survey activity, and meet our new Director of Marine Affairs, EJ Marohn! Plus, get the scoop on upcoming events and our latest news features: https://bit.ly/3Ljv9LN

Offshore wind can increase energy independence in the U.S., providing a domestic source of power that decreases the country’s reliance on imports and reduces vulnerability to volatile global energy markets. #GlobalEnergyIndependenceDay

We are committed to responsibly sharing the ocean with fisheries and mariner communities by maintaining frequent and open lines of communication. Our ongoing survey work is used to establish baseline characterization of our lease area and inform the safe and environmentally responsible design, construction, and future operations of our project.    Our latest Mariner Update informs local ocean users of our progress and future survey work, including: -- Performing benthic operations early July through mid-July along state and federal export cable corridors -- Conducting geotechnical survey operations from early July through early August along potential export cable corridors in state and federal waters -- Continuing avian surveys in the offshore lease area through December Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eCe25Eb6