The Business Network for Offshore Wind, the leading organization working to accelerate offshore wind energy deployment and build a dedicated domestic supply chain, celebrates the announcement that the nation’s third commercial scale offshore wind project passed a major regulatory milestone and now sits a month away from construction approval. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Ocean Wind 1 project off New Jersey’s coast and based off the findings of the FEIS, BOEM will issue a final Record of Decision (ROD) after 30 days granting the project environmental approval to begin construction. Ocean Wind has already secured an offtake agreement with the state of New Jersey to deliver 1.1 GW of offshore wind generation and expects to begin operation in late 2024 or early 2025. Only two other projects – Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind – have received RODs for their projects, and both have begun installation activities.  

The following statement can be attributed to Liz Burdock, founder and CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind:

“With two projects already undergoing installation, the U.S. offshore wind industry is on the move as the logjam of projects awaiting approval breaks open. Ocean Wind 1 is the first in a pipeline of eight more projects, totaling more than 15 GW of power generation, to receive a final environmental impact assessment. Consistently working through this this pipeline is key to creating the strong supply chain required to build and sustain our industry. Today’s action advancing Ocean Wind also bolsters the monopile facility under construction in Paulsboro, the New Jersey Wind Port, and a fabrication facility in Baltimore harbor. All three will be critical parts of the U.S. supply chain moving forward. The Network congratulates the Department of Interior and BOEM for their efforts to ensure offshore wind is developing in an environmentally responsible manner and for clearing the way for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey households to get clean, reliable and affordable power.”

Business Network for Offshore Wind | offshorewindus.org