Details

Empire Offshore Wind LLC (Empire) proposes to construct and operate an offshore wind farm located in the designated Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0512 (Lease Area). The Lease Area is located approximately 14 statute miles (mi) (12 nautical miles [nm], 22 kilometers [km]) south of Long Island, New York and 19.5 mi (16.9 nm, 31.4 km) east of Long Branch, New Jersey. Empire proposes to develop the Lease Area in two wind farms, known as Empire Wind 1 (EW 1) and Empire Wind 2 (EW 2). Within the Lease Area, approximately 147 wind turbine generators at up to 176 locations will be connected through a network of inter-array cables. Each wind farm will connect via offshore substations to separate Points of Interconnection (POIs) at onshore locations by way of export cable routes and onshore substations. EW 1 and EW 2 will be electrically isolated and independent from each other. This study aims to first establish a thorough understanding of the seabed mobility in the area of interest, which can subsequently be utilized to establish the implications of seabed mobility for specific components of the Empire Wind developments (such as both export cable routes). In this report, projections of potential future seabed levels are presented for the Empire Wind export cable corridor EW1. These future seabed level projections are based on information obtained from an established system understanding that focusses on the Empire Wind project and its surrounding areas. This system understanding is based on literature review, data analysis and numerical modelling of long-term and episodic morphodynamics and is documented in a separate report.