Federal agency calls it ‘progress’ toward goal of 30 GW of power
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced Monday it has completed its Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind farm project.
It is another step forward in the plan to place as many as 98 wind turbines off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties.
BOEM noted it completed the environmental analysis “in support of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.”
“BOEM continues to make progress towards a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a new clean energy industry in the United States,” BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein stated in the May 22 press release. “Offshore wind is a critical component of the Biden-Harris administration’s strategy to tackle the climate crisis, while creating good-paying jobs and ensuring economic opportunities are accessible to all communities.”
Danish company Ørsted is the company behind the project.
According to BOEM, if all 98 wind turbine generators (WTGs) are approved for installation, the estimated capacity range would be from 1,215 to 1,440 megawatts, capable of powering as many as 504,000 homes per year.
“If approved, Ocean Wind 1 will be the third commercial-scale offshore wind project located on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf approved by the Biden-Harris administration,” the release states.
A “Notice of Availability for the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Ocean Wind LLC’s Proposed Wind Energy Facility Offshore New Jersey” will be published May 26 in the Federal Register. The final EIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the activities laid out in Ocean Wind LLC’s Construction and Operations Plan. The final EIS is available on BOEM’s website: boem.gov.
Almost a year ago, on June 24, 2022, BOEM published a draft environmental impact statement and opened a comment period including three virtual public hearings “to solicit additional feedback on the draft EIS from tribal nations, local community members, commercial fishing interests, and other ocean users. BOEM received a total of 1,389 comment submissions from federal, tribal, state and local government agencies; non-governmental organizations and the general public during the comment period.
BOEM reported it considered the comments and feedback “when developing the final EIS (FEIS), a critical step to ensure the project can move forward while balancing the needs and interests of everyone who may be affected by the development.”
The release of the FEIS follows Ocean Wind 1 getting a group of permits from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Ørsted called that step a “major state permitting milestone” to advance the Ocean Wind 1 project.
In an interview published in the May 3 edition of the Sentinel, Maddy Urbish, Ørsted’s head of Government Affairs and Market Strategy, New Jersey, said more federal, state and local approvals are needed to get the project moving forward.
At the time, Urbish said they were expecting the FEIS within the next couple of months with the hope of a final approval of the project this summer.
According to BOEM, this week it plans to issue its Record of Decision on whether to approve Ocean Wind 1 this summer. The bureau noted the Record of Decision “is the considering of the National Environmental Police Act Environmental Impact Statement process.
“Ocean Wind 1 continues to advance through the multi-year federal permitting process, and we’re pleased to reach this latest milestone, the issuance of BOEM’s final Environmental Impact Statement,” Urbish said via email Monday. “Ocean Wind 1 anticipates onshore construction beginning in the fall and offshore construction activities ramping up in 2024.”
In the earlier interview with the Sentinel, Urbish said if all approvals were in place, land-based construction could begin this fall with power being generated by the wind farm before the end of 2024.
“The Record of Decision is essentially the final OK,” Urbish said. After that would be approval of the formal Construction and Operation Plan (COP). “The Record of Decision is essentially the final go, but then there is some formal permits that are issued in the next 30 to 60 days,” she said.
“We are anticipating, hoping, that we will be able to begin some of the on-shore construction this fall after the summer season,” Urbish said. That would include the cabling in Ocean City and the substation in Upper Township — “the sort-of utility-style work that needs to happen onshore.”
Transmission cables from the wind farm would run across Ocean City to the substation in the Beesleys Point section of Upper Township, where the cables would connect to the state’s power grid.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
1 Comment