Adding areas for offshore wind development in federal waters off of New York could create a logistical nightmare for commercial shipping if state and federal agencies do not balance the interests of prospective developers and the maritime industry.
U.S. Coast Guard maritime transportation specialist George Detweiler said the areas where New York state and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, are proposing for offshore wind development are smack in the middle of some of the busiest traffic routes for cargo, tankers and other vessels coming in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Mishandling the offshore wind projects could have a negative impact on the country's third-largest port, which has a local annual economic impact of $205 billion, Detweiler said.
About 3.6 million containers went through the Port of New York and New Jersey in 2016. Source: Associated Press |
In particular, maritime traffic would be blocked by Statoil ASA's $42.5 million offshore wind lease in federal waters 11.5 nautical miles south of Long Island and PNE Wind USA's unsolicited lease for an area northeast of Statoil's lease.
"This area is a crossroads," Detweiler said during a Dec. 4 meeting on BOEM's initial draft for the potential wind energy areas. "The result from displacing traffic has further solidified our concern that the proposed wind energy areas will result in unacceptable risk to safety and navigation."
BOEM and New York state agencies will also need to consider how creating four new areas for offshore wind development would impact military exercises conducted in nearby federal waters, said Fred Engle, the director of military training and ranges for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense. The Department of Defense has assessed the areas where BOEM would add offshore wind leases, but it also needs to assess additional zones that could affect the North American Aerospace Defense Command's ability to survey aircraft coming into nearby Air Defense Identification Zones.
"We're asked to fill in those gaps, so we're going to do assessments of those areas that haven't been previously assessed," Engle said. The department's updated assessment will be out sometime in the second quarter of 2018, he added.
In October, New York submitted a proposal to BOEM to identity and lease at least four areas for offshore wind development, with each area capable of supporting at least 800 MW. BOEM's regulatory framework allows developers to submit an unsolicited request for a commercial lease. In this case, BOEM is now working on a call for nominations and proposals in response to New York's request and is giving stakeholders and members of the public until Dec. 15 to submit comments on the initial draft.
Meanwhile, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority along with several other state agencies have also been working on a "master plan" to research the state and the surrounding region's potential for an offshore wind industry. Adding new offshore wind leases would help reach Gov. Andrew Cuomo's goal of procuring 2,400 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030. The report on their findings will be released later in December.

