The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced it has approved the plan for construction and operations of the Ocean Wind 1 project offshore New Jersey. Located about 13 nautical miles southeast of Atlantic City, the project is expected to break ground this fall, with Ocean Wind LLC’s plan to construct nearly 100 wind turbines and up to three offshore substations within its lease area.
According to BOEM’s official announcement in July, the decision documents the extensive range of monitoring and mitigation measures that Ocean Wind will undertake to reduce the potential for impacts to protected species, such as marine mammals, sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon. These measures include vessel speed restrictions and clearance zones during construction.
According to the statement, Ocean Wind also committed to three fisheries mitigation programs including a direct compensation program for reimbursement of lost revenues, a navigational safety fund for navigation equipment upgrades, and a reimbursement program for lost or damaged commercial fishing gear. Neither BOEM nor Ørsted has announced any “mitigation” plan for the recreational fishing community.
According to Associated Press reporter Wayne Parry, additional approvals from BOEM, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency still must be obtained, which Ørsted estimates will happen by the second quarter of 2024.
Ocean Wind I’s final major approval from the federal government came just days after the New Jersey Legislature approved a bill, signed by Governor Phil Murphy, which will allow Ørsted to keep federal tax credits that the company otherwise would have had to pass on to New Jersey ratepayers.
Ocean Wind 1 is being developed by Ørsted as a sole venture after the Danish energy company purchased the Public Service Enterprise Group’s 25% stake in the project. Formerly known as DONG (Danish Oil and Natural Gas), Ørsted is 50.1% owned by the Danish Government; according to Wikipedia, as part of a 2014 restructuring plan to fund offshore wind projects, DONG Energy sold an 18% stake to New Energy Investment SARL, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, where Murphy was employed for 23 years prior to becoming governor in 2018.
