Sunrise Wind

What’s New?  

On Dec. 12, 2022, BOEM announced the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for the proposed Sunrise Wind project offshore New York. 

The Notice of Availability for the Sunrise Wind Draft EIS published in the Federal Register on Dec. 16, 2022, opening a 60-day public comment period, which ended on Feb. 14, 2023. The input received via this process will inform preparation of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS). 

The following documents are available for your viewing.  

Public Meetings  

During the comment period, BOEM held three virtual public meetings, where the public could learn more about the review process, EIS schedule, potential impacts from the proposed project, and proposals to reduce potential impacts. There was also an opportunity for participants to provide comments on the Draft EIS.  

The public meetings were held on the following dates:  

Thu., Jan. 19, 2023

Mon., Jan. 23, 2023

sunrise_08-20-2021
Lease OCS-A 0487
Consolidation of lease OCS-A 0530 into Lease OCS-A 0487

On July 31, 2013, BOEM conducted a competitive auction and awarded Lease OCS-A 0487, consisting of about 67,250 acres, to Deepwater Wind New England, LLC. On August 3, 2020, Deepwater Wind New England, LLC assigned Lease OCS-A 0487 to Sunrise Wind, LLC.  

On September 3, 2020, Bay State Wind, LLC assigned 100 percent of its record title interest in a portion of lease OCS-A 0500, which BOEM designated OCS-A 0530, to Sunrise Wind, LLC. 

On March 15, 2021, BOEM completed the consolidation of lease OCS-A 0530 into Lease OCS-A 0487 through an amendment to Lease OCS-A 0487. The resulting lease area is 109,952 acres and shown in the above figure. The effective date of lease OCS-A 0487 remains October 1, 2013. 

 

 

 

Sunrise Wind, LLC submitted a COP on September 1, 2020, to BOEM proposing the construction and installation, operations and maintenance, and conceptual decommissioning of offshore wind energy facilities for the Sunrise Wind project.

The Sunrise Wind COP calls for up to 94 wind turbine generators (WTGs) at 102 potential locations, an offshore converter station (OCS-DC), inter-array cables, an onshore converter station (OnCS-DC), an offshore transmission cable making landfall on Long Island, New York, and an onshore interconnection cable to the Long Island Power Authority Holbrook Substation.  

The most recent COP submission from Sunrise was on August 18, 2022. After the environmental review, BOEM will either approve, disapprove, or approve with modifications the proposed activities. 

Visual Impact Assessment  

As part of the COP review, a series of time-lapse videos were generated that depict 18 hours of daytime and nighttime conditions under a variety of lighting conditions, cloud cover, and weather scenarios.  To represent nighttime conditions, the aviation obstruction lights were animated to flash at a rate of 30 flashes per minute.  As discussion in Appendix Q1  (Visual Impact Assessment) of the COP, based on past flight data and the use of Aircraft Detection Lighting Systems (ADLS), the aviation obstruction lights associated with the project would only be activated for a total of approximately 1.4 hours over a one-year period.   

The visual impact assessment includes photo simulations from numerous Key Observation Points and provides a detailed analysis of the potential visibility of the proposed Project and differences in landscape visual quality with and without the Project in place.   

Links to the video simulations provided below are also in Table 2.2-5 of the visual impact assessment. Note: If viewing on a computer monitor, use the highest screen resolution available. The simulation is at the proper perspective when viewed at a distance of approximately twice the image height.  

Cumulative Historic Resources Visual Effects Assessment (CHRVEA)

The BOEM Cumulative Historic Resources Visual Effects Assessment (CHRVEA) provides photo simulations for the project when combined with other reasonably foreseeable offshore wind development in the area. Collectively, the views illustrate the full range of viewing angles, lighting and weather conditions, and viewing distances from open, publicly accessible vantage points throughout the entire potentially affected area.  

Appendix C of the BOEM Cumulative Historic Resources Visual Effects Assessment (CHRVEA) provides photo simulations for the project when combined with other reasonably foreseeable offshore wind development in the area. Collectively, the views illustrate the full range of viewing angles, lighting and weather conditions, and viewing distances from open, publicly accessible vantage points throughout the entire potentially affected area. The CHRVEA and associated appendices can be accessed here:  

  • Cumulative Historic Resources Visual Effects Analysis – Sunrise Wind Farm Project 
  • Appendix A: Figures 
  • Appendix B: Methodology for Cumulative Visual Simulations 
  • Appendix C: Cumulative Visual Simulations 
  • Appendix D: Key Personnel Resumes 

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Scoping 

On August 31, 2021, BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Sunrise Wind project offshore New York.  The NOI was corrected September 3, 2021, to extend the comment period to October 4, 2021, and to make technical corrections.

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 Construction and Operations Plan (COP), asked questions, and provided oral testimony.  Recordings from the virtual scoping meetings are available: 

BOEM received 88 submissions during the scoping period from the public, agencies, Tribes, and other interested groups and stakeholders. Scoping comments can be viewed through the Regulations.gov web portal by searching Docket No. BOEM-2021-0052 at http://www.regulations.gov and clicking “View Related Comments”.  

A total of 769 unique comments were identified and are summarized in the Sunrise Wind Scoping Report.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

On Dec. 12, 2022, BOEM announced the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Sunrise Wind project offshore New York. 

The Notice of Availability for the Sunrise Wind DEIS published in the Federal Register on Dec. 16, 2022, opening a 60-day public comment period, which ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 14, 2023. The input received via this process will inform preparation of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

The following documents are available for your viewing.