Upcoming BOEM Meeting on Offshore Wind Farming

Graphic courtesy of BOEM

A recently publicized project from Aukahi Energy made waves on Molokai this summer as the company seeks to build an offshore wind farm in the Ka’iwi Channel off the windward coast of Oahu. The channel’s geographical proximity, along with its environmental and cultural significance to Molokai, have already raised a variety of concerns regarding this project.

Now, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will be holding an intergovernmental renewable energy task force meeting on Aug. 22 on Oahu, accessible to Molokai residents virtually, to discuss offshore wind farming, amongst other renewable energy topics.

John Romero, Pacific Public Affairs Officer for BOEM, explained that while the Aukahi Energy project has gotten attention statewide, BOEM doesn’t currently have any projects before them to even review on wind farming. This upcoming meeting is intended to start talks on potential areas which could be leased for renewable energy projects.

“We’re at the very beginning stage of looking at whether we will be offering a lease [for offshore wind farming] in Hawaii,” said Romero.

BOEM has been working with the state “to meet [Hawaii’s] aggressive renewable energy goals,” since 2012, explained Romero. Hawaii aims to be 100 percent reliant on renewable energy by 2045.

This upcoming task force meeting will begin the process of gathering data on whether and where offshore wind farming could take place.

“We’re going into this with eyes wide open,” said Romero. He explained BOEM is looking into various environmental, biologic and cultural impacts as well as “what areas are off the table.”

While there is a rush for renewable energy projects statewide, according to Romero, any offshore wind farm project is at least a decade away from reality. Private companies will have to acquire a lease from BOEM before any projects can be started.

The Aug. 22 meeting will take place in Honolulu from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but Molokai residents can attend virtually and offer public comment via Zoom at shorturl.at/p7ROT.