Offshore Wind Area Designated for New York
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has defined a Wind Energy Area totaling approximately 81,130 acres for potential commercial wind energy development off New York. The area is located about 11 miles south of Long Island.
The announcement was made by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper and is part of President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan.
Today's announcement builds on BOEM's work to foster offshore renewable energy development through a collaborative state-federal process to identify Wind Energy Areas and hold competitive lease sales. To date, BOEM has issued 11 commercial wind energy leases off the Atlantic coast. These include two leases offshore New Jersey stemming from last November’s competitive lease sale. Other commercial leases include two in a Wind Energy Area offshore Rhode Island-Massachusetts, another three offshore Massachusetts, one offshore Delaware, two offshore Maryland and one offshore Virginia.
“New York has tremendous offshore wind potential, and today's milestone marks another important step in the President's strategy to tap clean, renewable energy from the Nation’s vast wind and solar resources,” Jewell said. “We will continue to work with the State and local stakeholders through a collaborative effort as we determine what places have the highest potential and lowest conflict to harness the enormous wind energy potential off the Atlantic seaboard.”
The Wind Energy Area is based on a proposal by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) in 2011, when it submitted an application for a commercial wind lease. At that time, NYPA proposed installing up to 194 wind turbines, each generating 3.6 megawatts (MW) for a total potential yield of nearly 700 MW of wind energy generation for the Long Island and New York City region.
BOEM will now complete an environmental assessment to determine potential impacts associated with issuing a lease. The assessment will also consider the impacts of conducting surveys and installing resource assessment facilities in the area. BOEM may then move forward with steps to hold a competitive lease sale for commercial wind development offshore New York.
BOEM will continue to work with the State of New York to identify additional areas for potential wind energy development in the future.
