U.S. Interior Outlines Environmental Measures for Offshore Wind Projects in the New York Bight

BOEM issued a Record of Decision identifying environmental measures for future offshore wind development in six lease areas offshore New York and New Jersey, in the area called New York Bight. Wind projects in these areas, which span 488,000 acres, could produce up to 7 gigawatts of wind energy capable of powering up to two million households.

The bureau consulted with key stakeholders that would be affected by the projects, such as tribal communities, state and federal agencies for input on the environmental review. The bureau’s decision identified 58 previously applied avoidance, minimization, mitigation, and monitoring measures that are applicable to the New York Bright offshore projects. Developers could use this input to comprehensively evaluate the environmental impacts of their offshore wind projects, when submitting their construction and operations plans.

This decision follows the bureau’s final programmatic environmental impact statement for the New York Bright announced on Oct. 21. The New York Bight review marks the first regional analysis of offshore renewable energy development and operations over multiple lease areas. The bureau recently released the second such regional analysis for five offshore wind lease areas along California’s central and northern coasts that have the potential to produce over 4.6 GW of offshore wind energy.

The Biden administration has set a goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy by 2035. Offshore wind development has advanced significantly in New York this year, with Orsted starting construction on the largest offshore wind project in the state with the 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind project. New Jersey is expected to announce the winners of its fourth offshore wind solicitation this month.