Biden Administration Advances Rhode Island Offshore Wind Project
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed its environmental analysis of the proposed Revolution Wind Farm Project offshore Rhode Island. The project proposes to construct up to 100 wind turbines capable of generating up to 880 megawatts, enough to provide an estimated 300,000 homes with clean renewable energy. If approved, Revolution Wind would be the fourth commercial-scale offshore wind project located on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf approved by the Biden Administration. BOEM’s Revolution Wind Farm Project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the proposed activities and is available on their website. In developing the Final EIS, BOEM considered feedback from stakeholders and developed a preferred alternative that includes fewer turbines, allows for ocean co-use, and meets the energy needs of Rhode Island. “BOEM used the feedback we received from Tribal Nations, industry, ocean users, communities, and stakeholders to help inform our decisions throughout the environmental review process and ensure that we are addressing potential impacts,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “This milestone represents another important step forward in building a new clean energy economy here in the United States.” Earlier this month, BOEM approved the construction and operation plan for the Ocean Wind 1 project off the coast of New Jersey, which is expected to generate 1,100 MW of clean energy, power over 380,000 homes, and create over 3,000 jobs. This marked the third commercial-scale offshore wind energy project to be approved in U.S. federal waters under the Biden Administration, joining the Vineyard Wind project and the South Fork Wind project, which are currently under construction. The Biden Administration has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. Sign up for our newsletter
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.