BOEM Lease Areas
View Bureau of Ocean Energy Management maps of the area off Delaware’s coast, and learn about BOEM hearings. What has POWER said at the hearings? What are DNREC’s comments? BOEM controls all offshore wind activity 3 miles from the shore out to the edge of territorial waters.That is the area where offshore wind projects will be located. All federal permits required of offshore wind developers are handled by BOEM.
BOEM map showing draft Wind Energy Areas for the Central Atlantic, July 2023
BOEM maps showing call areas and current Maryland projects off Delaware’s coast.
DNREC comments in response to BOEM’s (BOEM) published notice for comment on the Draft Wind Energy Areas (WEA) offshore the U.S. Central Atlantic coast in June, 2022.
Benthic habitats will be fundamentally altered due to the installation of wind turbines and associated scour protection structures. DNREC suggests the mapping of benthic features at appropriate spatial scales before, during, and after construction to allow for the examination of changes to benthic resources, and the impacts that these changes may have on fish, fisheries, marine mammals, and other marine life.
POWER comments in response to BOEM’s (BOEM) published notice for comment on the Draft Wind Energy Areas (WEA) offshore the U.S. Central Atlantic coast on December 16, 2022.
We urge BOEM to continue its orderly process, and designate new call areas off Delaware’s shores. Having additional wind energy areas off our own coast will provide not only the opportunity for an offshore wind project for Delaware but will also encourage offshore wind support facility investments in Delaware and will provide employment for Delawareans.