BOEM Starts Environmental Review for Next U.S. Offshore Wind Farm
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its plan to initiate an environmental review of the next U.S. offshore wind farm plan just six days before the presidential transition which many fear will put the industry at risk. BOEM reports it will publish a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operations Plan submitted by Vineyard Mid-Atlantic, marking the 14th COP review initiated under the Biden administration.
The Vineyard Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind project is in one of the six lease areas within the New York Bight Wind Energy Area. The lease was won with a bid of $285 million from Vineyard Offshore, an affiliate of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners in the February 2022 auction. The total lease area is 43,000 acres and is located approximately, 20 miles offshore New York and 36 miles offshore New Jersey.
BOEM is commencing a 45-day public comment period and scheduled public sessions for February. The period will end on March 1.
The review will be looking at the lease area which could generate over 2,000 megawatts of electricity from up to 117 wind turbines, enough to power more than 700,000 homes. The power would be supplied to New York State. BOEM previously approved in February 2024 the Site Assessment Plan by Vineyard Mid-Atlantic and the construction plan shows online it was last updated on January 8, 2025.
Vineyard Offshore proposed to New York State to develop the Excelsior Wind project that would supply 1,350 megawatt (MW) offshore wind as part of the lease area. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) previously selected the project in the third offshore wind solicitation, announced in October 2023, although NYSERDA ultimately did not issue contracts for those awards. The project was resubmitted in September 2024 in the renewed solicitation.
The project is set to move forward in its permitting process despite the promises from Donald Trump to stop offshore wind power development. Last week in a press conference Trump said his energy policy would seek to have “no windmills” built. He has been a vocal critic of the industry questioning the economics and making unfounded claims that “windmills” cause cancer and are killing whales.
In a press release, U.S. Congressman Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey, announced yesterday, January 13, that his office has drafted an executive order for Trump’s review to pause offshore wind farm development. The executive order would halt offshore wind activities for six months as the federal government reviewed the industry, Van Drew said while laying the groundwork for permanent measures against the projects. He says the proposed order is expected to be finalized within the first few months of the administration.