BOEM moves ahead on more offshore wind projects

Image: BOEM

In a clutch of announcements today, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said that it has completed its environmental review of the proposed Sunrise Wind energy project, is proposing an offshore wind sale in the Central Atlantic and is working with the State of Maryland to identify a wind area of similar potential to an area that has now been removed from the proposed Central Atlantic sale, thus enabling the state to achieve its 8.5 GW offshore wind goal.

SUNRISE WIND

The Sunrise Wind energy project, which is located approximately 16.4 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., approximately 26.5 nm east of Montauk, N.Y., and 14.5 nm from Block Island, R.I. BOEM estimates the proposed 924-megawatt project will power more than 320,000 homes with clean, renewable energy.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project is now available here and BOEM plans to issue a Record of Decision on whether to approve the project early next year, and, if so, identify any conditions of approval.

CENTRAL ATLANTIC

The proposed Central Atlantic lease sale includes one area offshore the States of Delaware and Maryland, and one area offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Lease Area A-2 consists of 101,443 acres and is approximately 26.4 nautical miles (nm) from Delaware Bay. Lease Area C-1 consists of 176,505 acres and is approximately 35 nm from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

BOEM is seeking public comments on which, if any, of the two lease areas should be offered in a lease sale next year. These areas have the potential to power over 2.2 million homes with clean energy. BOEM partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to develop a comprehensive, ecosystem-based ocean planning model that assisted in the selection of the final WEAs.

In July 2023, (see earlier story) BOEM announced three Central Atlantic Wind Energy Areas (WEAs), while indicating that one of them, WEA B-1, still needed more study. Today’s proposed sale notice does not include WEA B-1, which is located approximately 23.5 nm offshore Ocean City, Md.

BOEM has removed that WEA from this proposed lease sale due to the significant costs and mitigation that would be required. However, WEA B-1 may be considered as part of a potential second lease sale in the Central Atlantic, which could occur as soon as 2025.

The Proposed Sale Notice, which will publish in the Federal Register tomorrow, initiates a 60-day public comment period and contains information about the areas available for leasing, certain lease provisions and conditions, auction details, criteria for evaluating competing bids and procedures for lease award, appeals and lease execution.

MARYLAND

In a separate announcement today, BOEM said that the Biden administration and the State of Maryland will collaborate in advancing the review of additional areas that could support the goals of Maryland’s Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources Act, including consideration of how federal and state efforts could address any mitigation needed to address existing offshore activities. BOEM said that the administration has preliminarily identified acreage off Maryland’s coast of a similar size and wind energy generation capacity to B-1. This area will be analyzed more fully and collaboratively by BOEM, the State of Maryland, federal agencies and other stakeholders as a potential WEA, along with additional potential offshore wind areas all along the Central Atlantic coastline, for inclusion in a subsequent offshore wind lease sale as early as 2025.