Let The Bidding Begin: 43 Companies to Compete For Five California Offshore Wind Leases

On Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Power Administration, or BOEM, will public sale off 5 leases for the event of offshore wind power services alongside the California Coast – the primary such lease sale on the West Coast of the US. Two of the websites are situated off the coast of Humboldt, California, whereas the opposite three are situated close to Morro Bay. Mixed, the 5 areas to be leased embody over 500 sq. miles of ocean – an space bigger than the Metropolis of Los Angeles.

Competing for these 5 leases are 43 corporations together with BP U.S. Offshore Wind Power LLC, a subsidiary of BP, and Shell New Energies U.S. LLC, a subsidiary of Shell. Nevertheless, profitable one among these leases is not going to give corporations the flexibility to dive straight into establishing offshore wind services alongside the California coast. As a substitute, profitable a lease merely marks the start of a sequence of regulatory hoops every firm must undergo earlier than getting a inexperienced mild to assemble the services – a course of East Coast lessees and companies alike have already began to navigate.

Many East Coast Leases, Few Offshore Wind Farms

The primary offshore wind leases had been auctioned off by the BOEM in 2012. Since then, 30 offshore wind leases (together with 27 business leases) have been issued for the Jap Seaboard. But solely two leased areas are presently working offshore wind services: Rhode Island’s Sea2Shore: The Renewable Hyperlink Undertaking and Virginia’s Offshore Wind Pilot Undertaking.

Rhode Island’s Sea2Shore Undertaking

The Sea2Shore Undertaking allowed the Block Island Wind Farm, situated in state waters, to put down connection strains in federally regulated waters to attach the wind farm to mainland Rhode Island. Utilizing the transmission strains licensed by the Sea2Shore Undertaking, the Block Island Wind Farm started delivering electrical energy to the Rhode Island grid in December 2016, making it the US’ first offshore wind facility.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Undertaking

In contrast to Rhode Island’s Block Island Wind Farm, whose main infrastructure was constructed in areas regulated by the state of Rhode Island, Virginia’s offshore wind pilot venture represents the U.S.’s first offshore wind venture to be constructed in federal waters. Undertaken by Virginia’s main utility firm, Dominion Power, in collaboration with the state of Virginia, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Undertaking allowed Dominion to assemble two offshore wind generators 27 miles offshore of the Virginia shoreline for analysis functions. The pilot venture’s wind generators started handing over Could 2020. At this time, the 2 wind generators constructed by venture stay the U.S.’s solely two wind generators situated in federal waters.

Classes realized from the pilot venture will probably be included into the design of Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Undertaking, which goals to assemble 176 wind generators which might be anticipated to provide sufficient power to energy greater than 600,000 properties. Nevertheless, virtually 10 years after Dominion was awarded an offshore wind lease for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Undertaking, the venture stays unbuilt with public criticism leaving the venture’s future unsure.

Beneath Building: The South Fork Wind Farm and Winery Wind

Two different offshore wind initiatives are presently below building on the East Coast: the South Fork Wind Farm, situated off the coast of Rhode Island, and Winery Wind 1, situated off the coast of Massachusetts. The initiatives had been awarded federal leases in 2013 and 2015, respectively, and have every since acquired all federal permits wanted to start building.

By the point every is anticipated to come back on-line, it’ll have been a few decade since their leases had been awarded.

Nevertheless, neither the South Fork Wind Farm nor Vineyward Wind 1 are within the clear but.

Massachusetts’ Winery Wind 1 Undertaking particularly has confronted quite a lot of authorized challenges, together with a current authorized submitting towards the venture from the Accountable Offshore Growth Alliance, or RODA, a gaggle representing the business fishing trade. As a part of the submitting, RODA argues varied federal companies, together with the BOEM, the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers, and the Nationwide Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued permits for the venture with out finishing an evaluation of the venture’s potential to impression the endangered North Atlantic Proper Whale (concern over which lately prompted the Maine lobster fishery to lose its coveted sustainable seafood certification from the Marine Stewardship Council).

RODA additionally claims federal companies did not adequately assess different, non-water-dependent initiatives (i.e., land-based wind farms) and that the Winery Wind 1 venture would end result within the unlawful exclusion of business fisherman from the realm.

Comparable litigation was filed towards each the South Fork Wind and Winery Wind 1 initiatives in February 2022 by Allco Renewable Power Ltd, a photo voltaic power firm. In its litigation, the corporate argues that, amongst different issues, the venture may jeopardize endangered species and launch oil into the ocean ought to the generators topple over throughout hurricane-level wind occasions and that the venture would end result within the “decimation of the business fishing trade”.

For the reason that submitting, Allco’s complaints towards the 2 initiatives have been separated into two separate circumstances. As well as, quite a lot of Allco’s claims have been dismissed as a result of Allco failed to offer federal companies with well timed discover previous to submitting its litigation. Allco is anticipated to re-file the dismissed claims.

BOEM’s First California Offshore Wind Leases

Regardless of the various unresolved authorized actions plaguing the expansion of offshore wind on the East Coast, the BOEM is constant to guage new potential offshore wind areas and public sale off business leases. Already this yr the BOEM has issued eight leases for areas off the coast of New York and North Carolina. Following Tuesday’s scheduled lease public sale, the overall variety of BOEM-issued business offshore wind leases will go as much as 31 leases. Collectively, the 15 leases issued this yr signify an almost 70% enhance in offshore leases in 2022 alone.

The fast progress in federal offshore wind leases has been made potential, largely, by the Biden Administration, which in 2021 set a purpose of acquiring 30 gigawatts of power from offshore wind by 2030. In September 2022, the Biden Administration expanded this purpose to incorporate a further 15 gigawatts of power from floating offshore wind by 2035 – the kind of offshore wind know-how that will probably be deployed off the California coast.

Nevertheless, even with the Biden Administration’s help, it’s prone to be not less than a pair years till any offshore wind services are constructed within the west.

Even with out delays associated to litigation or public criticism, the entities awarded the 5 new California offshore wind leases can have many regulatory obligations to meet earlier than offshore wind will turn out to be a actuality for the golden state, together with necessities from the California Coastal Fee.

The Lengthy Highway from Lease to Building

Based mostly on the necessities outlined in every of the BOEM’s draft leases, every of the California offshore wind leases can have an preliminary time period of only one yr. To increase the lease time period, every firm might want to submit a Website Evaluation Plan (SAP) to the BOEM and the California Coastal Fee for evaluate or acquire authorization for an extension.

Every Website Evaluation Plan might want to describe how the lessee plans to survey the leased space. The info collected throughout the preliminary web site evaluation stage will probably be utilized by every firm to tell their offshore wind designs. Whereas these surveys are a vital element of offshore wind growth, they typically use loud, repetitive sound waves that may damage and even kill marine life. As well as, the vessels working the survey gear are liable to colliding with marine life, notably whales.

Nevertheless, to attenuate potential impacts to marine life, every of the BOEM’s draft leases already embrace quite a lot of survey necessities, together with a most survey vessel velocity restrict of 10 knots, mandated third-party marine life observers on every survey vessel, and reporting necessities in order that companies just like the BOEM can assess the impacts of the survey efforts. By means of its survey plan evaluate course of, the BOEM and the California Coastal Fee can have the chance to make sure every firm’s survey plan will adjust to lease necessities and to offer the 2 companies with the chance to introduce further environmental protections.

As soon as a lessee has obtained company approval of their Website Evaluation Plan, accomplished all licensed surveys, and developed an offshore wind design, they are going to then put together and submit a Building and Operations Plan (COP) to the BOEM and the California Coastal Fee. After every company has performed an preliminary evaluate of the Plan, and after any requested modifications are addressed, the COP will endure formal analysis below the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act (NEPA) earlier than receiving remaining federal approval.

The NEPA course of requires a federal “lead company” – on this case, the BOEM – to arrange a report that assesses every offshore wind services’ results on the setting. The general public is then invited to offer feedback on the draft report. Relying on the character of the feedback acquired, the BOEM might then ask the lessee to conduct further research. As soon as all feedback on the draft report have been thought-about, a remaining report is revealed. If no new, substantive feedback are offered on the ultimate report, the BOEM can subject a remaining choice, finishing the NEPA course of.

As soon as a remaining choice is revealed for a venture’s Building and Operations Plan, the venture can acquire permits from the various different companies, just like the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers and the Nationwide Marine Fisheries Service, which oversee the U.S.’s coastal waters and the species that reside inside them. Solely in spite of everything company approvals are obtained and the BOEM points a “file of choice” might building in any of California’s 5 leased areas start.