IMAGE: Atlantic Shores Offshore wind
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has introduced the provision of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 2 wind vitality initiatives offshore New Jersey. If authorized, the 2 initiatives might generate about 2,800 megawatts (MW) of electrical energy, sufficient to energy nearly 1 million houses.
Availability of the draft EIS units the stage for a public engagement course of that could possibly be extra contentious than common.
With experiences of whale deaths a lot within the media earlier this 12 months, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R.-N.J.), who’s Vice Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has been pushing for a moratorium on offshore wind improvement, as have Republican New Jersey state senators.
With the New Jersey offshore wind advocates possibly doing lower than they may to elucidate the science (which would appear to point that vessel strikes are the major cause of whale deaths) a current ballot by Fairleigh Dickinson University signifies {that a} slight majority of New Jersey residents now want to halt offshore wind development.
Meantime, the BOEM course of continues. Atlantic Shores, a three way partnership between EDF Renewables and Shell, submitted a mixed Construction and Operations plan (COP) for 2 wind vitality services and related export cables on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore New Jersey: the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 2. The two initiatives are collectively known as the Atlantic Shores South Wind Project. The mixed proposal consists of as much as 200 complete wind generators and as much as ten offshore substations with subsea transmission cables making landfall at as much as two New Jersey places: in Atlantic City, Sea Girt, or each. The lease space covers roughly 102,124 acres and is roughly 8.7 statute miles offshore New Jersey at its closest level.
“As BOEM moves forward with our environmental reviews, we are committed to working with tribal nations, government agency partners, lessees, environmental organizations, local communities, ocean users and others,” mentioned BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “By working together, we can build a strong, enduring offshore wind industry that ensures American communities across the nation benefit from good paying jobs and clean, reliable, domestic renewable energy.”
The Atlantic Shores South Wind Project draft EIS can be found on BOEM’s website, The discover of availability will publish within the Federal Register on May 19, 2023, which can open a 45-day public remark interval that ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Jul. 3, 2023. The enter acquired through the remark interval will inform preparation of the ultimate EIS.
Project 1 has an Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate award from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for 1,510 MW of offshore wind energy, sufficient to energy 528,000 houses. Atlantic Shores is searching for a second energy offtake settlement for Project 2, which has a purpose of producing 1,327 MW, sufficient to energy about 464,450 houses.
PUBLIC ENAGEMENT
BOEM will use the findings of the ultimate EIS to tell its determination on whether or not to approve the Atlantic Shores South Wind Project COP, and in that case, what mitigation measures to require.
During the remark interval, BOEM will maintain two in-person public conferences and two digital conferences, the place the general public can study extra in regards to the evaluate course of, the EIS schedule, potential impacts from the proposed challenge, and proposals to scale back potential impacts. Participants additionally can have a chance to supply feedback on the draft EIS. The public conferences shall be held on the next dates and occasions.
In-Person public conferences: All occasions are Eastern. Registration for the in-person conferences is inspired.
- Wed., Jun. 21, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Holiday Inn Manahawkin/Long Beach Island, 151 Route 72 West, Manahawkin, NJ 08050
- Thu., Jun. 22, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Atlantic City Convention Center, 1 Convention Blvd, Atlantic City, NJ 08401 Virtual public conferences: All occasions are Eastern. Registration for the digital public conferences is required.
Virtual public conferences: All occasions are Eastern. Registration for the digital public conferences is required.
- Mon., Jun. 26, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. Wed., Jun. 28, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.
A digital assembly room shall be printed on BOEM’s web site on May 19, 2023, and can embody details about how one can register for the in-person and digital conferences. It shall be obtainable all through the 45-day remark interval and can embody details about the draft EIS and how one can present remark.
We will be sure that opponents of New Jersey offshore wind will make their voices heard at these occasions. The trade can have the difficult job of allaying their fears — which could possibly be arduous seeing that science is commonly a more durable promote than straightforward assumptions.
