BOEM Issues Final EIS for Atlantic Shores South Wind Project Offshore New Jersey

May 24, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for two wind projects offshore New Jersey that are being developed by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Shell New Energies and EDF-RE Offshore Development.

If approved, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 2 would have a combined installed capacity of about 2.8 GW, enough to power almost 1 million US households.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind submitted a combined Construction and Operations Plan for two wind projects, collectively referred to as Atlantic Shores South Wind Project, and associated export cables on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore New Jersey.

The combined proposal includes up to 200 total wind turbines and up to ten offshore substations with subsea transmission cables potentially making landfall in Atlantic City and Sea Girt.

BOEM held four public meetings and a Tribal consultation meeting in June 2023 to gather feedback on the Atlantic Shores South draft EIS from Tribal Nations, local community members, commercial fishing interests, and other ocean users.

The lease area covers approximately 102,124 acres and is approximately 8.7 miles (about 14 kilometres) offshore New Jersey at its closest point.

Project 1 is the offshore wind farm that was awarded an Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for 1,510 MW of generation capacity in June 2021. Recently, the developer awarded Creamer-Jingoli a contract to engineer and design the onshore underground cable route for Atlantic Shores Project 1.

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Shell and EDF Renewables jointly hold leases for three offshore wind areas, which are under active development.

The lease block OCS-A 0499 off New Jersey, which was first secured by US Wind in 2015/2016 and acquired by EDF Renewables Development in 2018, was split into two areas in 2021.

The southern part of the block contains the Atlantic Shores Project 1 and the 1,327 MW Atlantic Shores Project 2, while the northern part of the block was given a new lease number, OCS-A 0549.

A few months ago, BOEM initiated the environmental review for the proposed Atlantic Shores North project, which could feature up to 157 wind turbines.