New York heads for US offshore wind big-time with gigascale Empire's environmental check
Key step in approval process moves Equinor-BP project toward record of decision next May, with construction slated for the following year and commissioning by 2026
New York’s gargantuan 2.1GW Empire offshore wind project has reached a major milestone in its federal permitting with the release of its draft environmental impact statement (EIS), one of the last steps in the approval process that could clear the development for construction as early as 2024.
The mega-project, owned by a joint venture (JV) of oil giants Equinor and BP, is the largest wind project in American waters to reach this critical juncture in permitting by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which oversees development in federal waters, and will set New York firmly on course for meeting its 9GW by 2035 mandate.
“BOEM continues to drive significant progress to meet the Biden-Harris administration’s ambitious climate goals, and our commitment to advance offshore wind is keeping pace with our commitment to do this right,” said BOEM director Amanda Lefton.
BOEM expects to issue the project’s record of decision (ROD) next May, which will allow for onshore construction and offshore export cable laying to start in 2024 for the project, formed by dovetailing the 816MW Empire Wind 1 awarded in 2018 and the 1.2GW Empire Wind 2 selected last year.
The first array is slated to begin commercial operations in December 2026, followed by the second in 2027.
“Offshore wind farms go through rigorous environmental reviews, and we appreciate BOEM’s thorough and expeditious process which also takes into account the economic benefits that the construction and operation of offshore wind farms provide,” said Josh Kaplowitz, vice president of industry advocacy group the American Clean Power Association.
Empire Wind, which is set to be built around Vestas V236-15MW turbines, will power more 700,000 New York homes once at full power.
Collectively, the project is forecast to generate $8-9bn in economic activity and over 5,000 jobs backed by labour agreements.
Up to 19GW of COPs are scheduled to be approved in 2023, sparking a boom in offshore wind construction in the US.