From Proposal to Power: The Steps of Offshore Wind Development

The importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, achieving energy independence, and relieving congested energy transmission routes has elevated renewable energy on U.S. public policy agendas and in the public consciousness. The Mid-Atlantic has a gently sloping continental shelf and strong offshore winds, making offshore wind energy a focus of policy, research, and investment for the region. The Mid-Atlantic states are increasingly looking to offshore wind as an energy source that can help them meet their renewable portfolio standards and goals.

While offshore wind is a target industry for energy production in the region, it is imperative that offshore wind development proceed with full consideration of any potential effects on marine life as well as other ocean resources and uses. The process of how an offshore wind farm goes from concept to reality involves years of study and public engagement, as well as rigorous oversight by federal and state authorities.

MARCO’s Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal houses and displays thousands of data layers that can help coastal managers and decision makers build understanding of the potential interactions between offshore wind development and other ocean uses and resources. Current federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) offshore wind development leases, installed and proposed infrastructure locations, and individual project envelopes are among the maps that can be overlaid with habitat, fisheries, and other ocean use data layers.

Offshore wind maps in the Portal’s Renewable Energy theme are arranged in four collections corresponding with the stages they’re in, from least to furthest along. They are 1) Planning and Lease Areas, 2) Offshore Energy Projects Under Review, 3) Permitted Projects and 4) Operational Offshore Energy Projects.

In this edition of Ocean Stories, we provide a concise primer on those categories, the state of offshore wind development in the Mid-Atlantic, and how map data on the Portal and other tools can help assist with analysis and inform all interested stakeholders. Readers seeking more detailed information on offshore wind projects and the development process can visit the BOEM website.

Once a company wins a lease, which gives it the exclusive rights to develop an area, it can begin the work of studying its features and crafting proposals for what will be built there. The company will start by amassing all of the information it can about that area through a range of methods, including reviews of scientific reports and data, boat surveys of the seafloor, and conversations with the local industries that rely on the area and know it best.

Following a few years of research and engagement, the lessee will produce a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) that lays out the number and locations of turbines, the volume of power that will be generated, and how it will be safely transmitted to the grid on shore. BOEM will then conduct a thorough investigation of the proposal and release its findings in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement report.

A public comment period will open once it’s published, allowing experts and stakeholders an opportunity to review its conclusions and offer any supplemental information, objections, or clarifying perspectives they feel should be considered. BOEM will conclude by releasing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a decision of whether or not to approve the COP.

To enable users to analyze specific projects, the Portal’s Offshore Energy Projects Under Review collection also houses maps of the individual lease areas where COPs have been deemed complete and a notice of intent to draft an EIS. Users who click the dropdown will also find the latest publicly available information on the locations of five types of proposed infrastructure for projects: turbines, power export cable locations and corridors, interarray cables (those that run from turbine to turbine), and substations.

Once a developer receives a record of decision after the final EIS, it can advance to construction. One by one, the array of turbines will be built and connected to one another by a network of cables and substations at sea. Steps will be taken to alert mariners in the vicinity about vessel activity and to monitor for the presence of sensitive marine life.

Export (transmission) cables will slowly be laid in routes that avoid potential trouble spots like military training zones, anchorage grounds, and areas that see heavy fishing activity with bottom-tending gear that can snag on the line. The cables will be buried and covered at depths where they will minimize hazard exposure. (See our miniseries of Ocean Stories on siting cables for more information.)

Users can click on the Portal’s “Permitted Projects” dropdown for maps showing the individual footprints of projects that have been cleared for construction by BOEM.

All of the proposed offshore wind leases In the Mid-Atlantic are located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), which encompasses all federal submerged land, subsoil, and seabed from 3 to 200 nautical miles offshore. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 placed oversight responsibility on BOEM for all renewable energy projects within the OCS. Thus, BOEM is responsible for issuing leases, easements and rights of way for offshore wind projects.

Many states conduct Federal Consistency reviews to ensure that federal actions are consistent with state coastal management policies. States participating in the federal consistency provision of the Coastal Zone Management Act may have the authority to review offshore wind development activities to ensure federal actions are consistent with that state’s coastal management policies.

Federal consistency is the principal tool that allows states to influence OCS activities, as many may not directly require a state permit or approval for implementation (with the exception of associated facilities in or on state waters or lands). Included within the consistency review is a mandatory public comment period, in which states are required to provide for public participation.