The federal government has completed an environmental review for developing a wind project 20 miles off the coast of Humboldt Bay. That review found developing offshore wind will have no significant impact on the environment.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Thursday released the final draft of its environmental assessment, which broadly examines how offshore wind activities in the roughly 207-square-mile Humboldt Wind Energy Area would affect the surroundings. Any specific project that is proposed in the future would still need to undergo its own environmental review.
“The completion of this Environmental Assessment represents an important step forward for ensuring that any future renewable energy development — should a lease sale occur — is done in a responsible manner,” BOEM Director Amanda Lefton said in a statement. “Working closely with tribes, state and federal partners and key stakeholders, BOEM remains focused on ensuring that such development is done in a way that avoids or reduces potential impacts to the environment and other ocean users in the region.”
The Biden-Harris Administration has a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by the end of this decade with the expectation of selling leases for 25 gigawatts worth of projects by 2025.
The lease sales for offshore wind projects off Humboldt Bay and Morro Bay in Central California are expected to take place in September, and the completion of the environmental assessment is a major milestone.
BOEM expects offshore wind energy development in the Humboldt area could generate up to 1.6 gigawatts of renewable energy that would provide power to around half a million homes.
Offshore wind development should help the Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s Community Energy Choice Program, which enters its fifth year this month, meet its goal of providing about 63,000 customers in the county with 100% local renewable energy by 2030, according to a news release from the energy authority.
“This fall, the federal government will auction off leases to developers who wish to explore the feasibility of wind energy projects 20 or so miles off Humboldt Bay, which could be operational by 2030,” the energy authority’s executive director Matthew Marshall said in a statement. “Offshore wind will be a critical tool in combating climate change while creating skilled jobs and driving economic development up and down the California coast. RCEA will continue to work with our community, the local fishing industry, tribes, local labor organizations, and other stakeholders to maximize offshore wind’s benefits for our community.”
BOEM is set to have its fifth California Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting on June 3.
You can find the final environmental assessment and more information about offshore wind development in Humboldt Bay at bit.ly/3FvvgjW.
Sonia Waraich can be reached at 707-441-0504.
