Deepwater Wind receives final permit approval from CRMC

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council has unanimously approved final permits for Deepwater Wind’s five-turbine wind farm project off Block Island at its meeting recently.

The submerged lands lease and two joint licenses and assents were approved by CRMC for Deepwater Wind, the developer of the country’s first offshore wind farm.
These were the final permits needed as stipulated by the CRMC for Deepwater Wind.

CRMC legal counsel, along with a representative of Shechtman Halperin Savage LLP, a legal firm hired as outside advisory counsel to assist with the agreements, presented the three documents to council members this week.

Some of the highlights of the submerged lands lease are:

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  • The submerged lands lease for the five turbines began Nov. 12 and will be valid until the 25th anniversary of the commercial operating commencement date.
  • The actual lease area will encompass land occupied by actual turbines and include a 200-foot perimeter around each turbine.
  • The rental payment in the lease states the annual payment as $150,000 or that which is determined using the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management formula, whichever is higher.
  • The initial letter of credit will be for $7.5 million (an estimate from the certified verification agent for the cost of decommissioning the wind farm).

The Block Island transmission cable and inter-array cable (both to connect the wind farm to the mainland and to Block Island) were both drafted as a license and assent in one document, which the CRMC has done with other transmission cables in the past.
The Block Island transmission cable license area is limited to the width of the cable and an additional 50 feet on either side; it will be licensed for 90 years, and eventually will be transferred to National Grid.
The inter-array cable, which will connect the wind farm to Block Island, has the same 25-year term period as the submerged lands lease. The license will be governed by Rhode Island law like the lease; that language was added because the cable will pass through federal waters.

Council members commented on the technical nature of the documents, and applauded all of the parties in drafting them in order to protect the state and the CRMC, in accordance with the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program and the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, the guiding document for the project and permitting of the wind farm.
“We’ve done the best job that can humanly be done,” Council member Tony Affigne said in a statement. “I think any of us can answer questions from the public about the work that we’ve done to make sure that this agreement is in the best interest of the state, and as I asked many months ago, it is, in fact, official policy of the state of Rhode Island to promote alternative energy and to utilize offshore resources for that purpose.”

In related news, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced this week that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offered a right-of-way grant to Deepwater Wind for the Block Island Transmission System to install the transmission line to carry energy from the Block Island Wind Farm to the Rhode Island mainland. The line will give island residents access to the mainland electric grid. Presently, Block Island relies on diesel generators for fuel.

U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin and David N. Cicilline, strong supporters of the offshore wind project, released statements praising the announcement.

“This decision by the BOEM marks the first right-of-way grant offered in federal waters for renewable energy transmission, a significant distinction for Rhode Island. As the country reduces its dependence on oil, coal and other fossil fuels, Rhode Island has the potential to benefit from this emerging renewable energy industry, while helping to chart its future,” Reed said.

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