The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operations Plan for the South Fork Wind Project offshore Rhode Island.
The notice will be published in the Federal Register on 19 October and will have a 30-day public comment period closing on 19 November. During this time, BOEM will hold public scoping meetings and accept comments.
If approved, the plan would allow construction and operation of up to 15 turbines that connect via a transmission cable to a grid in East Hampton, New York – the east end of Long Island. The project is approximately 19 miles southeast of Block Island.
The 90MW South Fork Wind Project is being developed by Deepwater Wind. Once permits are in-hand, local construction work on the South Fork wind farm would begin in 2021, with the wind farm in operations in 2022.
Ørsted has recently agreed to acquire Deepwater Wind in a deal valued at USD 510 million.