BOEM issues key approvals for New Jersey, Massachusetts offshore wind projects
BOEM issues key approvals for New Jersey, Massachusetts offshore wind projects | Utility Dive
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a record of decision to the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind project, and approved a construction and operations plan for New England Wind.
Atlantic Shores South will generate up to 2.8 GW and is being developed by Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables, while New England Wind will generate up to 2.6 GW and is being developed by Avangrid. Both projects contain two separate wind energy facilities — New England Wind 1 and 2, and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 and 2.
New England Wind will deliver power to Massachusetts once completed, and Atlantic Shores South will deliver power to New Jersey.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s approval of New England Wind’s COP authorizes the project to begin construction. BOEM’s approval of Atlantic Shores South concludes the federal environmental review process and clears the way for the project to secure a COP approval.
During the environmental review process, stakeholders provided input on potential environmental impacts of the Atlantic Shores South project, which “resulted in measures identified to avoid, minimize or mitigate the potential impacts of the project, including visual impacts and potential impacts to marine life and to existing ocean uses such as fishing.”
BOEM said that it will require those measures as conditions for its approval of the Atlantic Shores South construction and operations plan.
Last week, BOEM also approved the August sale of two Central Atlantic offshore wind leases, which together could provide up to 6.3 GW of power.
“BOEM’s consistent efforts to move projects through the regulatory process are pushing the offshore wind industry forward,” said Sam Salustro, vice president of strategic communication at Oceantic Network. “The Atlantic Shores South Record of Decision marks the agency’s ninth approval totaling more than 13 GW of offshore wind energy in the development pipeline. It also gives the State of New Jersey a shovel-ready project set to deliver jobs, investment, and clean energy.”
The American Clean Power Association also praised BOEM in a statement about its New England Wind approval, with ACP’s Vice President for Offshore Wind Anne Reynolds saying the group “commends BOEM’s continued commitment to offshore wind as an important and critical source of energy for the country’s future.”
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.