“Major milestone” in off-shore wind effort

U.S. Interior Department is prepared to issue a lease for NRG Bluewater Wind’s commercial wind development in federal waters off the coast of Delaware.  

The wind farm is one step closer to becoming a reality following today’s announcement that the Bluewater Wind project is “sole qualified respondent” for developing wind power off Delaware’s shores.  

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management for the Interior Department Ned Farquhar was in Lewes today to make the announcement.  “We’re about to issue our first commercial lease.  The Department of the Interior is now looking at and ready to issue a lease with Bluewater NRG for its 450-megawatt proposed wind development,” Farquhar said.  There are still some interim steps before the lease can be issued, including an environmental impact statement.  “We’re concerned about fishery protection, the birds, the marine mammals that make this coastline so special and so important.  We’re concerned about navigational issues, transmission and how we get this energy on shore.” 

Secretary for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Collin O’Mara says the leaders of NRG Bluewater Wind are excited about the progress.  “They now can go through the process of really making some of the investments that are necessary to make the project a reality.  This gives a lot more certainty that the project will go forward and that the lease will be executed.”  

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You can find more information on the approval process for the Bluewater project online here.  You can see a map of the proposed layout here.

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