{"id":207078,"date":"2023-11-15T13:24:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T18:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=207078"},"modified":"2023-11-17T14:44:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T19:44:58","slug":"uconn-partners-investigate-impact-of-windfarms-on-marine-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/11\/uconn-partners-investigate-impact-of-windfarms-on-marine-life\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn, Partners Investigate Impact of Windfarms on Marine Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, Nov. 14, stakeholders in Connecticut\u2019s first-ever wind farm project gathered at UConn\u2019s Avery Point campus to announce a collaborative, multi-year fisheries program to study the relationship between offshore wind farms and marine life.<\/p>\n

UConn will lead the study and a variety of related programs funded through a $1.25 million grant from developers Orsted and Eversource. The groundbreaking clean energy project is expected to generate enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island, starting in 2025.<\/p>\n

Campus dean and Chief Administrative Officer Annemarie Seifert called the project and partnership a \u201cpotential game-changer\u201d for Connecticut. She noted that in addition to funding cutting-edge research, the grant will support opportunities for students, and related educational programs that include a community lecture series. Speaking on behalf of Pamir Alpay, UConn\u2019s Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Seifert underscored UConn\u2019s commitment to combatting the devastating effects of climate change and securing a sustainable future powered by clean energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is critical that we balance our research and advancement into new wind energy with our commitment to stewardship of the environment,\u201d she said, quoting a statement by Alpay. \u201cUConn researchers, including our superb students, have a unique opportunity to help advance sustainable and renewable technologies and study the potential impact directly from Connecticut\u2019s shoreline.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 704-megawatt project known as Revolution Wind will be located 32 miles southeast of Connecticut, 15 miles south of Rhode Island, and 12 miles southwest of Martha\u2019s Vineyard. The wind farm will have a total of 65 turbines that will be assembled and shipped from the State Pier in New London. \u00a0Construction is expected to be completed in 2024, with commercial operation set to begin in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Evan
Evan Ward, professor and head of the Department of Marine Sciences, speaking at the Revolution Wind and UConn Avery Point Partnership Announcement Event at Branford House on the Avery Point campus on Nov. 14, 2023. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UConn is working with Orsted to identify the specific focus of the research, which will involve the trophic dynamics of fish habitat, particularly the interaction between the wind farm and marine life, said Evan Ward, professor and head of UConn\u2019s Avery Point-based Marine Sciences Department.<\/p>\n

UConn is Connecticut\u2019s flagship oceanographic institute and the Avery Point campus is home to multiple marine-related programs and the school\u2019s 90-foot research vessel R\/V Connecticut. While marine science is a critical component of the study, researchers from the Department of Geography and other social science programs will also be involved, probing topics such as the social and economic impact of the project and workforce development.<\/p>\n

UConn has a long history of involvement with clean energy and, in recent years, has made it a priority and strategic focus. Faculty, students, staff, and alumni are engaged in a broad range of clean energy research and initiatives, much of it through specialized centers and institutes that include the Center for Clean Energy Engineering (C2E2), Eversource Energy Center, Future Climate Venture Studio, and Innovation Partnership Building.<\/p>\n

The partnership with UConn Avery Point builds on Orsted and Eversource\u2019s multi-year research partnership with Mystic Aquarium. Announced in 2022, it is one of the nation\u2019s first comprehensive studies of the potential effects of offshore wind turbines on marine mammals and sea turtles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not be prouder to invest in this essential work that will help support some of the region\u2019s best scientists at UConn Avery Point to further our understanding of marine ecosystems and their interrelation to off shore wind,\u201d said Michael Ausere, Vice President of Business Development for Eversource. \u201cAs our marine populations continue to be devastated by the catastrophic consequences of climate change, we must double down on work with local communities and research institutions to refine the best practices to accelerate the transition to a new clean energy future sustainably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orsted is a Denmark-based multinational clean energy company that develops, constructs and operates offshore and land-based wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities and bioenergy plants. The announcement of the grant caps years of work on the Revolution Wind project that began in 2017 and involved a robust environmental review and stakeholder engagement process, including under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, prior to approval by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn is one of the top public institutions in the country,\u201d said Nicole Verdi, Orsted\u2019s Head of Government Affairs and Policy, New England. \u201cThis partnership with UConn Avery Point is a critical research program that will provide valuable data to better inform the industry\u2019s clean energy development efforts while protecting marine environments for the future\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hank Webster, Deputy Commissioner of Energy, for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said it was exciting to see the clean energy industry getting off the ground in Connecticut and to have the right partners in place to do it well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critically important that we do offshore wind right,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see offshore wind as a resource for the economy of Connecticut and we are working hard as a department to advance it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis study will ensure that this project is done in the most thoughtful and environmentally friendly way,\u201d added State Senator Norm Needleman, whose district includes shoreline towns on Long Island Sound. \u201cWe are building a new industry in this area but also along the Eastern seaboard as we work to decarbonize our grid.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn welcomed Orsted and Eversource officials to Avery Point to launch an impact study on a project designed to power 350,000 homes in southern New England<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":207079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,2226,2471,2466,2199,2076,2387,2235,173,2227],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2381],"class_list":["post-207078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-clas","category-economic-development","category-marine-sciences","category-new-london-county","category-research","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-avery-point","category-uconn-edu-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 18:09:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207078"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207169,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207078\/revisions\/207169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/207079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207078"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=207078"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=207078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}