Permitting Support for Offshore Wind Energy Projects

It can be challenging to complete the required permits for support facilities associated with offshore wind energy projects on schedule. Available treatment technologies must be adequately assessed to document their ability to meet permit requirements. Also, permits for offshore wind energy projects generate significant public interest that must be managed and fully addressed in an efficient manner.

ERG provided support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help ensure timely issuance of three Clean Water Act section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for offshore converter stations for wind projects located in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) Outer Continental Shelf Renewable Lease Areas in the Atlantic Ocean. To support the permitting process, ERG conducted a literature review of closed loop cooling technologies for offshore facilities, including an assessment of the feasibility and cost of available closed loop technologies in use for offshore facilities in the oil and gas sector (as well as other sectors, as applicable), and a review of innovative use of closed loop technologies for wind projects in other countries.