On July 30, 2021, BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Kitty Hawk North Wind (formerly Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind) project offshore North Carolina. The following documents are available for viewing:
- Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS (BOEM-2021-0050)
- Kitty Hawk North Construction and Operations Plan (COP) and Appendices
The Notice of Intent initiated a 30-day public comment period. During the public comment period, BOEM hosted three virtual scoping meetings where the public learned more about the project, asked questions, and provided oral testimony.
BOEM’s scoping process is intended to help BOEM determine the important resources and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigating measures that should be analyzed in the EIS.
Three virtual scoping meetings were held on August 10, 12 and 17, 2021. More information on the meetings is available in the Kitty Hawk North Virtual Scoping Room. In the third quarter of 2022, Kitty Hawk Wind, LLC updated the project’s name from Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind Project to Kitty Hawk North Wind Project.
Next Steps:
Following the comment period, BOEM will publish a scoping report and use the comments received during the public scoping process to help identify important resources and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives for consideration, and potential mitigating measures that should be analyzed in the Kitty Hawk North Draft EIS.
Through a competitive leasing process under 30 CFR 585.211, BOEM awarded Avangrid Renewables, LLC Commercial Lease OCS-A 0508 covering an area offshore North Carolina (the Lease Area) which was subsequently assigned to Kitty Hawk in 2021. Kitty Hawk has the exclusive right to submit a COP for activities within the Lease Area, and it has submitted a COP to BOEM proposing the construction and installation, operations and maintenance, and conceptual decommissioning of an offshore wind energy facility in the western portion of the Lease Area.
Construction and Operations Plan
In its COP, Kitty Hawk is proposing the construction and operation of up to 69 wind turbine generators, 1 offshore substation, inter-array cables, 1 onshore substation, and up to 2 export cables making landfall on Sandbridge Beach in the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and connecting to the onshore electric grid. Kitty Hawk has proposed using foundations that are a combination of monopiles, piled jackets, and up to three suction caisson jackets. The wind turbine generators, offshore substations, array cables, and substation interconnector cables would be located on the OCS approximately 23.75 nautical miles (27 statute miles) (44 kilometers) east of Corolla, North Carolina. The offshore export cables would be buried below the seabed of both the OCS and Virginia state waters.
Upon conclusion of environmental reviews and consultations, BOEM will approve, disapprove, or approve with modifications the proposed activities.
Environmental Review
BOEM published a NOI to prepare a Draft EIS for the Kitty Hawk project.
The publication of the NOI initiates the public scoping process and opens a 30-day public comment period, which ends on August 30, 2021. During this time, BOEM will hold public scoping meetings and accept comments. The public scoping process is used to identify issues and potential alternatives for consideration in the EIS.
Following the comment period, BOEM will publish a scoping report and use the comments received during the public scoping process to help identify important resources and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives for consideration, and potential mitigating measures that should be analyzed in the Kitty Hawk Draft EIS.
For additional information on the environmental review and permitting processes and timeline, please visit https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-project/kitty-hawk-offshore-wind-project.
Site Assessment Plan
On March 9, 2018 BOEM received a request to extend the preliminary term for commercial lease OCS-A 0508, from November 1, 2018, to November 1, 2019. BOEM approved the request on May 17, 2018.
On September 18, 2019, Avangrid Renewables, LLC submitted a Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for commercial wind lease OCS-A 0508 which was subsequently revised on November 4, 2019, November 25, 2019, December 16, 2019, January 25, 2020 and February 20, 2020. BOEM has deemed the SAP complete and sufficient and will approve, disapprove, or approve with modifications the proposed site assessment activities.
On April 8, 2020, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for Lease OCS-A 0508 (Avangrid Renewables, LLC). The SAP approval allows for the installation of up to two floating light and detection ranging buoys (FLiDARs) and two metocean/current buoy. For additional information, please find the approved SAP below: