The Biden-Harris administration has approved its sixth commercial-scale offshore wind energy project – the Empire Wind offshore wind project – to support its goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.
“Today’s approval of the sixth offshore wind project adds to the significant progress towards our Administration’s clean energy goals… [and] we will continue to expand clean energy development in a manner that will benefit communities, strengthen our nation’s energy security, and address climate change,” said Secretary Deb Haaland.
Empire Wind US LLC plans to develop two offshore wind facilities – Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2 – about 12 nautical miles (nm) south of Long Island, New York, and 16.9 nm east of Long Beach, New Jersey.
The projects will be comprised of 147 wind turbines with a total capacity of 2,076 MW of clean, renewable energy to power more than 700,000 homes each year, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) predictions. They will support over 830 jobs each year during the construction phase and 300 jobs annually during the operations phase.
“BOEM and our partners have already achieved so much in pursuit of the Administration’s goal of reaching 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “Extensive engagement with Tribes, other government partners, ocean users, concerned citizens, and more has helped us to avoid or reduce user conflicts while facilitating the responsible development of offshore wind projects.”
To analyze the project’s potential environmental impact and to develop possible alternatives and mitigation measures, feedback was gathered through nation-to-nation consultations with Tribes, federal, state, and local agencies, and from public meetings and comments.
The Record of Decision includes measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the potential impacts resulting from the construction and operation of the project. Empire Wind also aims to establish fishery mitigation funds to compensate commercial and for-hire recreational fishers for any losses directly arising from the project.
