Biden Administration Makes Final Moves to Advance Offshore Wind Power
On the final working day of the Biden Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the approval of one more offshore wind farm project. It has been pushing forward in recent weeks to aid the industry ahead of an anticipated change in policy under the Trump administration.
The current media reports are that Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Monday, Inauguration Day, that places at least a temporary moratorium on wind energy projects. House of Representatives member Jeff Van Drew reported he had drafted an executive order for the incoming administration to order more research into the issues that Trump asserts including “windmills” kill whales and the need for subsidies to make the industry viable Reports indicate Trump will halt actions until the approval of his nominated energy secretary Chris Wright, an executive from the fossil fuel industry, and nominated interior secretary Doug Burgum, former governor of North Dakota.
BOEM however today announced it has approved the Construction and Operations Plan for the SouthCoast Wind, a project proposed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture owned by EDP Renewables and ENGIE. Project. This is the final approval needed for the project from BOEM following the Department of the Interior’s December 2024 Record of Decision and Massachusetts in October moved forward with local permit approvals. The Rhode Island Current news outlet however is reporting today that the state's power utility, Rhode Island Energy, yesterday delayed a deadline till March 31 for signing its portion of the power purchase agreement and other approvals are still required for elements such as the cabling onshore in Rhode Island.
SouthCoast Wind will be located about 26 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nautical miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The project will be able to generate up to 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind energy for Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The approved project includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables located in up to two corridors, potentially making landfall in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts. Compared to SouthCoast’s original proposed project, the selected alternative removes six wind turbine positions in the northeastern portion of the Lease Area to reduce potential impacts on foraging habitat and potential displacement of wildlife.
“We are proud to announce BOEM’s final approval of the SouthCoast Wind project, the nation’s eleventh commercial-scale offshore wind energy project, which will power more than 840,000 homes,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. "Under the Biden-Harris administration, we have made remarkable strides in advancing a clean energy economy, including approving more than 19 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.”
BOEM also this week set a timetable to start the environmental review for the proposed Vineyard Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Project. It would be located south of New York with a total capacity of approximately 2 GW. The review is scheduled to run till March 1 putting it under the control of the new administration.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy also released the West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study and Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. West Coast Region. The study took two years to explore the costs and benefits of adding floating offshore wind turbines along the Pacific coast. The report shows that floating offshore wind could bring 33 GW of energy to the western United States by 2050 and asserts it would bolster the resilience of coastal communities.
In addition to the approval of the nation's first 11 commercial-scale offshore wind projects, BOEM held six offshore commercial wind lease auctions since 2022. It mapped a plan forward for additional permitting and auctions, but it will likely be stalled under the next administration.