The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Thursday recognized a Draft Wind Energy Area (WEA) within the Gulf of Maine, opening a 30-day public overview and remark interval.
The Draft WEA covers roughly 3,519,067 acres offshore Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, starting from roughly 23 – 120 miles off the coast.
“BOEM will continue to prioritize a robust and transparent planning process, including engagement with Tribal governments, federal and state agencies, the fishing community and other ocean users,” mentioned BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “BOEM strives to minimize potential impacts and will continue working hard to finalize offshore areas that have strong resource potential and the fewest environmental and user conflicts.”
According to BOEM, the Gulf of Maine has important alternatives for offshore wind vitality improvement, which can create good-paying jobs and new financial exercise, and because of the deep waters inside the Gulf of Maine, these areas are additionally a possibility “to accelerate U.S. leadership in floating technologies.”
The Draft WEA introduced Thursday has a capability of over 40 GW, which exceeds the present mixed offshore wind vitality planning targets for the Gulf of Maine states: 10 GW for Massachusetts and three GW for Maine.
Future changes to the Draft WEA will seemingly be made after incorporating suggestions through the remark interval, whereas striving to retain adequate space to satisfy the Gulf of Maine states’ planning targets, BOEM mentioned.
“To identify the Draft WEA, BOEM worked collaboratively with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to develop an ocean planning model that identifies and minimizes conflicts with coastal and marine resources and ocean users. BOEM also met with and incorporated feedback from Tribes, fishers, and the public to refine the model and inform the potential offshore locations that appear most suitable for floating offshore wind energy development,” BOEM mentioned.
According to BOEM, the Draft WEA avoids Lobster Management Area 1 and all North Atlantic Right Whale Restricted Areas and in addition avoids different essential fishing areas and habitats, together with essential groundfish areas east of the Western Gulf of Maine Closure and inside the 10-kilometer buffer from Georges Bank, Platts Bank, Parker Ridge, and Three Dory Ridge.
In response to preliminary conversations with Tribal Nations situated inside Maine, BOEM mentioned that the Draft WEA strived to keep away from a majority of the historic and current fishing grounds of these Tribes.
“BOEM will continue to consult with all Tribal Nations and other stakeholders who have an interest in the region to understand their concerns with potential offshore wind energy development and minimize conflicts. BOEM also seeks comments on whether to add all or parts of three secondary areas that were identified for additional analysis but not part of the Draft WEA,” BOEM mentioned.
Credit: BOEM
