Two Major Offshore Wind Projects receive Environmental Assessments

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By Christian Roselund

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project and Orsted and Eversource’s Sunrise Wind project, both on the U.S. East Coast. These are the fourth and fifth U.S. offshore wind projects to reach this stage of review that have not yet begun construction, and at 2,464 – 3,280 megawatts CVOW is multiple times larger than any project approved to date.

The two draft EIS were published in the Federal Register on 16 December 2022, which opened a 60-day public comment period. This includes three public meetings for each project during January and early February 2023. The input received will inform a final EIS.

Sunrise Wind is planned for Long Island Sound, with 94-102 wind turbines to be located 16.4 nautical miles south of the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. These turbines will each have a capacity of 11 megawatts, giving the project a total capacity of up to 1,122 megawatts. The project’s interconnection cables will reach land near Holbrook in Long Island, New York and deliver power to New York State’s market. The developers assume that all permits can be obtained by the end of 2023, to begin construction in Q4 2023.

CVOW is planned for a site 23.75 nautical miles off the coast of Virginia and features 176 – 205 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines. Each of these will have a capacity of 14-16 megawatts, for a combined capacity of 2,464-3,280 megawatts. The power from this project will serve Dominion’s customers in Virginia. Pending permitting approval, Dominion expects to begin construction in 2024 on foundations and install the turbines starting in 2025.

The Biden Administration has a goal to deploy 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030. To date only 42 megawatts of offshore wind turbines are operational in the United States. Two more projects, the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind and the 132-megawatt South Fork Wind, have officially
begun construction.

Major U.S. Offshore Wind Projects to Reach Draft EIS Stage

ProjectStatusState*DeveloperCapacity**Year online
Block Island Wind FarmOnlineRhode IslandOrsted30 MW2016
CVOWOnlineVirginiaDominion12 MW2020
Vineyard WindUnder constructionMassachusettsAvangrid, CIP800 MW2023***
South Fork WindUnder constructionNew YorkOrsted, Eversource132 MW2023***
Ocean Wind 1Draft EISNew JerseyOrsted, PSEG1,100 MW2024***
Revolution WindDraft EISRhode IslandOrsted, Eversource704-880 MW2025***
Empire Wind 1****Draft EISNew YorkEquinor, BP816 MW2026***
Sunrise WindDraft EISNew YorkOrsted, Eversource924-1,122 MW2025***
Empire Wind 2****Draft EISNew YorkEquinor, BP1,260 MW2027***
CVOWDraft EISVirginiaDominion2,464-3,280 MW2028***
Total Capacity   8,242-9,432 MW 

* State means the state where the electricity will be delivered; some projects will be located closer to land in a different state
**Capacity is the nameplate capacity in megawatts-DC (MW); ranges reflect the options in the Draft EIS
***For projects not yet online, years shown arethe latest estimates provided by developers; multi-year delays are common
****Empire Wind 1 and 2 are considered one project for planning purposes

Three additional projects, the Ocean Winds 1 (New Jersey), Empire Wind 1 and 2 (New York Bight), and Revolution Wind (Long Island Sound), representing 3,880 – 4,056 of aggregate capacity, have received draft but not a final EIS. The addition of CVOW and Sunrise Wind brings the potential capacity of projects with a draft EIS up to 9,432 megawatts. However, only one of the projects that are still in this stage is expected to reach completion before 2025, meaning that nearly all of President Biden’s planned offshore wind goal will have to be met in the second half of the decade.

Press release: BOEM Advances Review for Two Proposed Wind Projects Off Atlantic Coast (BOEM)