Backers of the Community Offshore Wind project will contract with ocean survey company Fugro to conduct geotechnical site investigations of the project’s lease area in the New York Bight this summer, the developers said July 17.
Planned as a 3.3-gigawatt capacity phased project 64 miles from New York Harbor, Community Offshore Wind is a joint venture of RWE and National Grid Ventures. The agreement with Netherlands-based multinational Fugro will help prepare Community Offshore Wind’s lease area, the largest in the New York Bight at nearly 126,000 acres.
Fugro plans to use two geotechnical vessels based at Bayonne, N.J., on upper New York Harbor to collect sediment samples. RWE and National Grid said they will engage with local commercial fishermen and bring some onboard the survey vessels to communicate and coordinate with the fishing fleet.
“Our lease area in the New York Bight has the capacity to power more than one million U.S. homes with renewable energy from offshore wind,” said Doug Perkins, president and project director of Community Offshore Wind. “This survey work is a vital step forward that will ensure our projects are developed sustainably and responsibly, while preparing us to bring new clean energy to communities across the region and help New York and New Jersey meet their nation-leading climate targets.”
“Fugro is extremely proud that Community Offshore Wind has once again entrusted us to deliver the Geo-data and analysis needed to advance their offshore wind project in the New York Bight,” said Céline Gerson, Fugro’s president and group director in the Americas. “Leveraging our extensive experience working on offshore renewable energy projects in the region and around the world, we’re fully committed to supporting the significant contributions this project will bring to the US energy transition.”
The New York Bight offshore lease areas are troubling to New Jersey commercial fishermen who are concerned about losing longtime trawling and scallop areas. RWE and National Grid say they will work with the industry.
“A safe and cooperative alignment with nearby fisheries is a top priority for Community Offshore Wind during the investigation and local commercial fishermen will be onboard the geotechnical vessels to manage communication and coordinate with fishing fleets,” according to the developers’ statement.
“Survey plans, activities and information on vessels will be regularly communicated to boaters, the fishing industry and posted on the Community Offshore Wind website. To ensure safe operations around marine life, the project will utilize independent protected species observers (PSOs) who will be on duty aboard the vessels at all times to detect and avoid marine mammals during field activities and to collect visual observation data on marine wildlife.”
