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Final environmental impact statement paves way for wind energy development in the United States
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Final environmental impact statement paves way for wind energy development in the United States

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US Wind has obtained its final Environmental Impact Statement on its application for a federal permit for further offshore wind development off the coast of Ocean City and elsewhere.

The approval comes shortly after the company requested the green light for its offshore wind project in Maryland and Delaware, which includes three planned phases. Two of those phases, MarWin and Momentum Wind, have received offshore renewable energy certificates from the state of Maryland.

“We are on track to realize Maryland’s offshore wind goals,” said Jeff Grybowski, CEO of US Wind. “We applaud the Ocean Energy Management Board for their thorough and careful review of our federal permit application. We are now one step closer to obtaining all of our federal permits by the end of this year and look forward to the day we can put steel in the water.”

US Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan called for full buildout of the federal lease area, which could generate up to 2 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.

According to a statement from US Wind, the board’s final environmental impact statement “is an important milestone in the two-year National Environmental Policy Act process, indicating that the company’s plans are nearly through the federal review process.”

What’s next for US Wind’s plans off Ocean City?

The board will next issue a Record of Decision on the company’s construction plans, which is expected in September 2024. Other cooperating federal and state agencies are expected to issue favorable decisions by the end of 2024.

The board held three public scoping meetings in June 2022 to solicit public input on the environmental review process and held two in-person and two virtual public meetings in October 2023 to gather feedback on a draft environmental statement. That included input from tribal nations, local community members and more.

“Our environmental review carefully considered the best available scientific information provided by tribes, other government agencies, local communities, industry, ocean users, and environmental organizations. This vital collaboration with all of our government partners and stakeholders will continue in later phases,” said Elizabeth Klein, chair of the board.

If approved, the project proposes installing up to 114 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, a meteorological tower and up to four marine export cable corridors, which would make landfall in Delaware Seashore State Park. The lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles from the Maryland coast and approximately 9 nautical miles from the Sussex County coast at its closest points onshore.

Environmental groups such as Oceantic Network praised the decision, saying it would greatly advance the country’s green energy future.

“Maryland has long viewed offshore wind as a key part of its energy and economic future, and has invested in a local offshore wind supply chain and the development of robust clean energy goals that have driven the sector from its earliest stages. Today, the state has a commercial-scale project that is on the cusp of full construction approval and is poised to become a regional hub for offshore wind and steel manufacturing,” said Liz Burdock, President and CEO of Oceantic Network.

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Offshore wind energy suffers unexpected setback in Massachusetts

While US Wind is currently celebrating the board’s decision, Massachusetts is still dealing with the fallout from football-field-sized portions of a turbine falling into the ocean off its coast.

On July 13, a fiberglass turbine blade fell into the ocean about 15 miles off the coast of Nantucket Island, causing large chunks of the broken material to wash up on nearby beaches. Vineyard Wind, owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, announced it was already beginning cleanup efforts.

The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has notified Vineyard Wind of its temporary closure order and investigation into the incident.

New research from the Rand Institute looks at the impact on whales

In late July, David T. Stevenson of the Center on Energy and Environmental Policy noted that there is finally ample evidence that offshore wind power is linked to unreported cases of whale mortality in recent years.

“We have waited patiently for compelling evidence that offshore wind is killing whales, despite federal agencies’ repeated claims that there is no such evidence. Now there is. Recent real-time acoustic testing of project construction noise and seismic testing reveal noise levels far in excess of those causing whale mortality,” Stevenson said.

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According to acoustic studies cited by the center, scientific evidence links seismic testing used in seafloor exploration to increased whale deaths, which federal agencies describe as “unusual mortality events.” That includes noise from operating turbines that exceeds safe levels, posing a constant threat to whales.

The center used the results of Rand’s acoustic study and Gerasoulis’ statistical analysis as the basis for its claims.

In 2023, Robert Rand, an acoustic consultant, conducted a study of sonar noise generated by an offshore wind research vessel off the coast of New Jersey. The sound at the source was 224 decibels. As sound waves move away from the source, their strength decreases. But half a nautical mile away, peak sound levels were 151.6 decibels. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicated that marine mammals can temporarily lose hearing at 152 decibels of continuous sound and permanently lose hearing at 173 decibels.

Among the species most susceptible to this effect is the endangered right whale.

“There is sufficient scientific evidence to show that research and construction work on offshore wind projects is killing whales. The first projects with huge new turbines that have never been used are coming online. Acoustic data is being collected which will likely show that safe operational noise levels are being exceeded on a daily basis,” the centre concluded.

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