BOEM awaits enviro review comments for California wind lease sites

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is seeking public input on the draft environmental review of potential mitigation measures regarding the development of five offshore wind lease areas off California.

The particular areas cover more than 373,268 acres offshore California’s central and north coasts, the Department of Interior agency said on Wednesday. According to its estimates, the specific sites could accommodate turbines with a capacity of over 4.6 GW and a combined output that will be enough to supply more than 1.5 million homes annually.

The California Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) reviews potential minimisation, mitigation, and monitoring measures that could be required for implementing projects within the specific seabed acreage. The analysis will be open to public review for 90 days, starting November 14, 2024, with feedback to be collected by February 12, 2025.

BOEM’s first auction in California in 2022 awarded five leases off the North and Central Coasts. The state aims to deploy 2 GW-5 GW of floating offshore wind by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. In June, it released a final strategic plan for achieving those targets.

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