BOEMRE initiates leasing process for commercial wind development offshore Massachusetts

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, today announced it is publishing a Request for Interest (RFI) to gauge interest in future wind energy development offshore Massachusetts.


This is the first step under the “Smart from the Start” OCS renewable energy initiative recently announced by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

It allows BOEMRE to identify priority Wind Energy Areas for potential development. Wind Energy Areas are offshore locations that appear most suitable for wind energy development. Data collected for these high priority areas will inform government and industry assessments and planning, and will promote greater efficiency in the siting and permitting process for offshore wind projects.

“BOEMRE has worked closely with Massachusetts officials and tribal representatives to facilitate the commercial leasing process for renewable energy development off the southern coast of Massachusetts,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “The Administration has expressed its commitment to putting our nation on the path to a renewable energy future, and BOEMRE will continue working to fashion an expedited but responsible process for leasing and permitting on the OCS.”

“The Request for Interest issued by the Obama administration today begins a process that will lead to up to 4,000 megawatts of wind energy installed far off our shores – enough electricity to power approximately 1.7 million households, and enough to take this new US industry from infancy to maturity,” Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles said. “Let there be no question that Massachusetts is, and will be, the nation’s offshore wind leader – spurring innovation, reducing costs, and creating jobs.”

BOEMRE will use industry responses to gauge specific interest in the commercial development of wind resources off the Commonwealth’s shores. If responses indicate that there is no competitive interest in this area, the agency may proceed with a noncompetitive lease process. Whether the leasing process is competitive or noncompetitive, it will include public participation as well as a thorough environmental review conforming to all applicable laws.

The Massachusetts RFI area was selected through consultation with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Task Force, an intergovernmental coordination group led by BOEMRE. Task Force members include federal and state agencies, tribal governments, and local entities that have a role in permitting, reviewing or regulating resources or activities that are involved in energy development on the OCS.

The RFI area off the coast of Massachusetts is approximately 12 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and extends approximately 31 nm seaward, south to the 60 meter depth contour, then east approximately 65 nm, then north approximately 31 nm. The area is approximately 2,224 square nm and contains 321 whole OCS lease blocks as well as 163 partial blocks.

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Salazar Announces Streamlined Permitting Process for Atlantic Coast

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced a major new initiative to accelerate wind development and siting along the Atlantic Coast.

Speaking at a press conference at the Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, MD, Salazar dubbed the initiative “Smart from the Start.” The new, streamlined permitting process for offshore wind development would be “unburdened by needless red tape,” Salazar said.

Salazar was joined at the conference by Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Hayes, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Delaware Senators Thomas Carper and Christopher Coons, and Jim Lanard, president of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition.

The new initiative comes as a response to drawn-out process currently required to obtain the required offshore wind development permits. For the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts that process took over nine years.

As part of the “Smart from the Start” initiative, BOEMRE will work with states along the Atlantic Coast to preemptively identify areas for wind development. This process is set to being within the next 60 days, although some states, such as Massachusetts, have already gone through this process.

Lanard, who represented the offshore wind industry at the event, praised the new policy.

“Offshore wind developers and their supply chain partners need regulatory certainty as they consider when and where to invest in projects and manufacturing facilities,” Lanard said. “The steps Secretary Salazar has taken today reinforce the Obama Administration’s commitment to offshore renewable wind energy and show the industry the path to permitting and constructing these long-awaited projects, each costing more than a billion dollars to build.”

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MORNING ROUNDUP: New York Holds First Offshore Wind Task Force Meeting

Federal offshore wind planning officials met last week with New York state, local and tribal officials in the first step toward commercial leasing of the federal waters off that state, BrighterEnergy.org reported.

Similar task forces are in place in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Virginia.

“BOEMRE created this task force to facilitate the efficient and effective review of proposed renewable energy projects on the OCS offshore New York,” said Bureau of Ocean Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich. “We will continue to work together to initiate the commercial leasing process that will enable New York to meet its renewable energy development goals and expand our nation’s energy resource portfolio.”

MA Officials Hope Cape Wind Will Draw Other Offshore Wind Business

Massachusetts state officials are that the groundbreaking Cape Wind project will help attract other wind energy companies to the Bay State, the Associated Press reported.

Ian Bowles, the state’s secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, also pointed to the almost-complete blade testing facility in Charlestown, MA.

“We’ve been aggressive in looking to grow the wind energy cluster in Massachusetts,” Bowles said, citing the attraction of Cape Wind. “Add to that a testing facility that has the largest capacity in the world for testing the largest blades in the world and you are going to see a lot of large wind blades coming into Boston.”

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