The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has opened an environmental consultation over proposed lease areas in the New York Bight that could potentially host up to 7 GW of offshore turbine capacity.
The initiative is the first ever regional environmental review launched by the federal government agency, in which it consults over multiple lease areas after conducting a regional analysis. That approach supports the completion of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and aims to speed up the development of the zones while taking into account the overall impact of offshore wind on ocean environment and marine life, the agency explained on Monday.
According to its statement, public feedback will be sought on the draft reports for the potential development of six wind lease areas covering over 488,000 acres (197,490 hectares) off New York and New Jersey. The sites could become home to between 5.6 GW and 7 GW of offshore wind farms if fully developed.
The draft report will be available for public comments for 45 days, with input to be collected between January 12 and February 26.
In 2022, projects representing a combined investment of USD 4.37 billion (EUR 3.99bn) were successful in an auction for six lease areas in New York Bight.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.9134)
Source: renewablesnow
