Developing offshore wind does not happen overnight. In fact, the process to plan for, assess, and construct offshore wind farms typically takes around ten years and offers multiple periods for public engagement and feedback along the way.

Given project locations in federally managed waters more than 3 miles off the state’s coast, the federal government – through the Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) - is the primary manager of the process to develop offshore wind, though the state – through the Board of Public Utilities and the Department of Environmental Protection - manages the process to select the developer and purchase power as well as govern permits in state-managed waters and connections along and on shore.

Steps along the way include planning analysis (1-2 years), where the government works with offshore wind developers to identify suitable locations (lease areas) for potential offshore wind development; leasing (~1) year), where auctions are held to determine which companies will receive leases to investigate and ultimately develop portions of the lease areas; site assessment (up to 3 years), where developers investigate the sites they won in the auction to develop Site Assessment Plans that are
ultimately rejected or approved by the federal government; construction & operations (1-2 years), where developers submit their plans for constructing and operating the wind farms and the federal government carries out an environmental assessment of their plans; and installation (~1 year), where developers submit their plans for installation for approval, construct wind farms, and develop transmission to connect to the grid.

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Credit: Regional Plan Association