RWE, National Grid JV and NOAA Form ‘First-of-Its-Kind’ Marine Monitoring & Research Partnership

September 15, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture between RWE and National Grid Ventures, has entered into a five-year partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to promote the exchange of data and expertise that could transform environmental monitoring for offshore wind projects.

Community Offshore Wind says that, for the first time, an offshore wind developer and NOAA will collaborate on how to study environmental impacts on the marine ecosystem to inform the responsible development of offshore wind projects.

The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) creates a framework for developers and federal experts to work together from the start to accurately assess and monitor potential impacts of offshore wind development on marine ecosystems, seeking to address two core areas: development of a responsible environmental monitoring programme and improving the benefits of environmental data.

The offshore wind developer said that it will be able to create an industry-leading monitoring programme that can support regional approach to scientific monitoring.

New data and monitoring innovations generated through the agreement could ensure that Community Offshore Wind’s projects are developed in a more responsible and environmentally conscious way, said RWE and National Grid JV.

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The partnership aims to ensure that data collected through offshore wind monitoring efforts can be seamlessly integrated into existing regional scientific assessments the federal government conducts for fisheries, habitat, and protected resources like sea turtles and marine mammals.

This integrated approach is expected to improve the overall quality of environmental data collected in the region to provide for more informed decision-making and sustainable management of marine resources.

In the New York Bight auction, RWE and National Grid secured the OCS-A 0539 lease area with a winning bid of USD 1.1 billion and plan to have the project in operation by the end of the decade.

The awarded seabed has the potential to host 3 GW of capacity, enough to power 1.1 million households, more than double than estimated in a base scenario by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).