The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Friday announced it will begin an environmental review for a proposed wind energy project offshore New Jersey.
The government body will now prepare an environmental impact statement for the construction and operations plans submitted by wind power developer Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a JV between Shell and EDF Renewables. The announcement marks the 12th offshore wind environmental review initiated during President Joe Biden’s time in office.
The project will lay within an 81,129-acre lease area, located 8.4 miles from New Jersey’s coast and approximately 60 miles from New York, the BOEM said in a press statement.
Currently, proposed plans from Atlantic Shores include the installation of up to 157 wind turbine generators, eight offshore substations, one permanent meteorological tower and two temporary metocean buoys, totalling 168 offshore structures. The plans also propose two potential export cable corridors that would make landfall at Sea Girt, New Jersey, as well as either the New York City area or near Asbury Park, New Jersey.
“BOEM is continuing to implement the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy agenda, while maintaining a careful approach to prevent, reduce and address any adverse effects on ocean users and the marine ecosystem,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “As an integral part of our environmental assessments, we will continue to actively solicit feedback from tribes; federal, state and local government partners; the fishing community; and the public to help guide our actions.”
BOEM will now open a 45-day public comment period for the project proposal, which will run until 2 May. The comment period will help identify important relevant information for the environmental review process, the body said. This may include any potential issues and mitigating measures required to protect ecosystems during the development and operation of the wind farm.
Since Biden took office in 2021, the US Department of the Interior, under which BOEM operates, has approved the country’s first six commercial-scale offshore wind projects as the government looks to ramp up renewables capacity.
On Friday, it also announced that it has completed the designation of a 32GW offshore wind energy area in the Gulf of Maine. If constructed, new proposals will significantly exceed the current offshore wind energy goals set by the states of Massachusetts and Maine, which stand at 10GW and 3GW, respectively. At the end of February, the BOEM also completed another environmental review for a major 2.6GW offshore wind project in New England.
