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Whitehouse unveils draft bill for offshore wind development

By: Chloe Emanuel 11/01/2024 Whitehouse

Corporate General Windfarms

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has unveiled the Create Offshore Leadership and Livelihood Alignment By Operating Responsibly And Together for the Environment (COLLABORATE) Act, a legislation designed to enhance the offshore wind development process and propel clean energy integration into the grid.

The COLLABORATE Act addresses critical aspects of offshore wind development, focusing on improving permitting, coordination, and cooperation among agencies, developers, and stakeholders. Senator Whitehouse emphasizes the need to streamline processes and create a comprehensive framework to harness the full potential of offshore wind.

Incorporating lessons learned from Rhode Island's successful Block Island Wind Farm, the COLLABORATE Act introduces measures to lower barriers hindering growth, including improved interagency cooperation, streamlined permitting, and enhanced support for fisheries and affected stakeholders.

Key Provisions of the COLLABORATE Act:

Timely Permitting, Coordination, and Engagement:

- Creation of a Director for Offshore Wind in the White House
- Establishment of a five-year leasing schedule for offshore wind
- Requirement for federal agency engagement with stakeholders in designated leasing areas
- Conducting impact studies before assessing commercial interest in lease areas
- Updating responsibilities of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for renewable energy production
- Designation of project managers at agencies with permitting authorities
- Requirement for timely meetings to ensure prompt project delivery
- Judicial reviews placed with the court of appeals for the circuit in the affected state

Offshore Transmission:

- Initiation of BOEM rule for permitting offshore wind transmission
- Identification of offshore wind transmission corridors in the national interest
- Establishment of standards for integrating different offshore wind transmission technologies
- Direction to FERC to consider reliability, resiliency, and multi-value cost allocation
- Funding for research and development of an integrated offshore wind transmission network
- Creation of offshore wind task forces for advisory purposes

Fisheries:

- Establishment of a fund and compensation formula for affected stakeholders
- Creation of a gear loss program modeled after offshore oil and gas
- Implementation of two grant programs for research on offshore wind development effects and supporting coexistence technologies

The COLLABORATE Act also aligns with Senator Whitehouse's RISEE Act, capping bidding credits for developers in lease auctions to protect states' offshore wind revenues. Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the discussion draft by February 9, 2024, by emailing collaborateact@whitehouse.senate.gov.

For more information about offshore wind farm projects across the globe, click here.

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Whitehouse unveils draft bill for offshore wind development

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