US officials have introduced draft guidelines for a more flexible permitting regime for the offshore wind planning sector.
BOEM is seeking feedback on a so-called ‘design envelope’ approach to construction and operations plans in federal waters.
“The Outer Continental Shelf’s offshore wind potential is a tremendous asset and part of the administration’s America First Energy Plan to make it easier for industry to do business here,” said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
The measures are designed to allow developers to take advantage of the “rapid pace of technological development within the offshore wind industry”.
BOEM added the approach “would afford developers a degree of flexibility and allow them to make certain project-design decisions, such as which turbines to use, at the more commercially advantageous time later in the project-development process”.
The initiative is part of a wider federal push to streamline permitting of infrastructure projects.
Image: reNEWS
US feds say ‘envelope please’
By EBS