Shell-EDF's 3GW New Jersey offshore wind array moves to key federal review
Developer duo has already contracted 1.5GW for Atlantic Shores and has plenty of space in lease area off Atlantic City for another project as state opens round 3 tender
Offshore wind development for US sector leader New Jersey advanced today with the release of the draft environmental review of the Shell-EDF’s nearly 3GW, 200-turbine Atlantic Shores array.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), lead regulator of energy development in federal waters, announced the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project under development some 9 miles (14km) off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
“As BOEM moves forward with our environmental reviews, we are committed to working with Tribal nations, government agency partners, lessees, environmental organisations, local communities, ocean users and others,” said BOEM director Elizabeth Klein.
The EIS is an intensive look at the project’s impact over its lifetime on marine ecosystems and society. It takes several years to complete and includes input from multiple agencies across several US government departments, especially National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service (NOAA-Fisheries).
Once an EIS is approved, the project is issued its record of decision (ROD), enabling it to go forward with installation.
The draft EIS encompasses a ‘project envelope’ of two developments by the joint venture (JV), only one of which, the 1.5GW Atlantic Shores 1, has been awarded an offtake contract by New Jersey. Atlantic Shores estimates that it can fit a second project in the same lease.
The combined proposal includes up to 200 total wind turbines and ten offshore substations with subsea transmission cables making landfall at up either Atlantic City or Sea Girt, or both.
As part of its commitments made towards meeting the Biden administration’s national goal of 30GW by 2030, BOEM pledged in 2021 to review 16 construction and operations plans (COPs) totalling over 20GW.
BOEM anticipates issuing the project its ROD early next year.
Whale controversy
Amid rapid progress by the state’s sector, the industry has lately received strenuous criticism for its alleged link to a rash of whale deaths over the past six months.
Some 37 whales have washed up on the Atlantic seaboard, more than two dozen in New York and New Jersey, with critics blaming acoustic survey activities by offshore wind developers.
Four endangered species of whale inhabit Northeast US coastal regions, including the fin, sei, sperm, and critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW), of which less than 350 individuals are known to survive.
NARW critical habitat area is some 270 miles (435km) north of the Atlantic Shores project, but the area is along migration routes and is considered the region is biologically significant for the survival of the species.