The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has extended the comment period on the notice of intent to prepare an environmental assessment for wind leasing and site assessment activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
The comment deadline, originally set for 8 August, will be extended an additional 30 days and will now end on 7 September, 2016.
Through the notice of intent, BOEM is seeking public comment for determining issues and alternatives to be analyzed in the environmental assessment, which will consider potential environmental impacts associated with issuing future commercial wind leases and approving site assessment activities on the lease areas.
Issuance of the notice of intent is a very early step in BOEM’s offshore wind process. BOEM said that stakeholder comments and input will be critical to informing its decision-making process moving forward.
BOEM has so far received a total of three unsolicited lease requests for floating wind energy projects off Oahu.
Two lease requests were submitted by AW Hawaii Wind for the 400MW AWH Oahu Northwest Project and the 400MW AWH Oahu South Project, and the third lease request came from Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind, part of Oregon-based Progression Energy, for the 400MW Progression South Coast of Oahu Project.