Offshore Wind Worldwide Regulatory Framework in Selected Countries 5th Edition 2024 - Flipbook - Page 354
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local outrage and regulators to shut down
the project’s construction and generation
pending a root-cause analysis and re-review
of all installed and manufactured blades.
Opponents of offshore wind seized on the
situation to redouble their efforts to delay or
cancel projects in more than a dozen states
from New Jersey to Oregon.
Concerns about the visual impacts of the
large wind turbines on coastal viewsheds,
the potential impairment of commercial
fisheries, and impacts on marine mammals
and shipping lanes also remain.
That said, additional lease sales continue,
including recent auctions for new leases in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine,
and the U.S. offshore wind development
continues full steam ahead.
The majority of offshore wind leasing
activity in the U.S. is in the relatively shallow
federal waters in the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) of the Atlantic Ocean, but leases
have been awarded in the deeper waters
of the Pacific continental shelf. The OCS
is regulated by the U.S. Department of the
Interior (DOI), and DOI’s Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management (BOEM) is the agency
authorized to issue leases for offshore wind
developments. BOEM has thus far issued
30 commercial leases for offshore wind
development.
Technology innovation in this field is promising, and there is increased market interest,
3 Offshore Wind Energy Market Assessment | Wind Research | NREL.
United States
especially at the state level. Coastal states,
from New England to California to New York
and Maryland, have committed to increase offshore wind capacity in the coming
decades, with some states creating specific
requirements for offshore wind purchases
and others creating specific offshore wind
incentive payments.3
Competition for offshore leases continues despite the unbid leases in the Gulf of
Mexico.
Litigation against offshore wind projects has
also commenced, which is expected in the
U.S. as most major energy projects authorized by federal agencies are challenged in
court by environmentalists or opponents
in the region. The U.S. defends the projects
through the Department of Justice, and
developers can also seek to intervene in
these cases. Remedies typically include a
remand to the agency to correct any errors
absent direct and imminent risk of harm to
protected species.
The U.S. has also recently undergone
permitting reform efforts to streamline the
process for major infrastructure projects,
including offshore wind. Congress recently
enacted some reforms intended to improve
the permitting process. There could be additional legislative changes in the future, which
warrants close monitoring.
