New Act unveiled to speed up US wind projects
Despite signs of reluctance with regard to offshore wind in the US, such as the recent cancellation of the Attentive One project near New York, other positive moves are emerging.
US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has introduced a bill with the acronym ‘COLLABORATE’ – the Create Offshore Leadership and Livelihood Alignment By Operating Responsibly and Together for the Environment Act – which aims to improve the offshore wind development process.
The Act would improve permitting and inter-agency co-ordination for stakeholders, and authorise $25 million a year to support community engagement in offshore wind development, according to the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), an international environmental organisation.
“Offshore wind has the potential to generate enough electricity to exceed twice the current demand in the US, but development has faced significant setbacks, delaying progress toward achieving the goal of 30 GW by 2030,” said Nicole Pavia, director, Clean Energy Infrastructure Deployment at CATF.
“These delays not only slow renewable energy growth, but also stall job creation, improvements to grid resilience, and critical emissions reductions. The COLLABORATE Act provides a clear path forward by streamlining permitting, fostering inter-agency collaboration, and prioritizing meaningful engagement with communities and stakeholders.”
The Act was introduced as the first jacket foundation for a substation at the largest offshore wind farm in the US, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, left the Danish Port of Esbjerg. It is the first of three foundations, each 60 metres tall and weighting just under 2,500 tonnes, that will be installed to support Dominion Energy’s 2.6GW offshore wind farm.
DEME Offshore has contracted JDR Cable Systems to carry out the cable installation and commissioning work for the project.
Brian Davis, Head of Services at JDR, said: “The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project represents a major step forward in the US’s renewable energy strategy, and we are proud to be a part of it. This contract underscores our high-quality end-to-end service for offshore wind projects. JDR’s comprehensive installation and commissioning services will support the long-term success and sustainability of this groundbreaking project.”
JDR’s cabling scope covers 176 wind turbines and the three offshore substations. The company has offices in the UK and Americas.
Further up the east coast, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (NOEM) issued its final approval for the installation of an offshore wind farm at Maryland, Baltimore. US Wind has applied to build a wind farm with a generation capacity of 1,800MW.
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