Offshore wind is one of the fastest-growing sectors of renewable energy. Other renewable energy technologies, including wave energy converters and tidal power stations, offer opportunities to sustainably harness the ocean’s energy.
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CSA is uniquely positioned to assist offshore energy developers by offering marine environmental services that specialize in every step of this transition, from permitting and habitat characterization through long-term monitoring.
CSA specializes in providing marine environmental services associated with the permitting and development of alternative offshore energy resources. CSA’s energy industry projects typically involve identifying environmental risks and minimizing potential environmental impacts to assist corporations and government agencies in addressing environmental requirements and meeting engineering and logistical constraints of alternative energy development and distribution.
CSA provides marine environmental consulting services that are directly applicable to domestic and international alternative energy industry projects. We offer a range of services including regulatory permitting; National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)-compliant document preparation; desktop study risk analysis facility permitting; environmental management planning; design and implementation of habitat restoration projects; monitoring of biologically sensitive resources; environmental baseline studies; geophysical mapping; and habitat assessments.
Offshore Renewable Energy Experience
CSA’s extensive experience related to the environmental and social impacts of human activities in the marine environment positions us to provide services for the development of offshore renewable energy technologies.
- Performance of impact assessments to identify environmental consequences early in the project planning and design process to facilitate preventing, minimizing, and mitigating adverse impacts is a crucial component of project development. In the U.S., NEPA provides a formal mechanism for public stakeholders and non-government organizations (NGOs) to participate in the decision-making processes involving environmental issues. Internationally, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, which includes review by government agencies, the public, and NGOs, serves a similar function. CSA has developed hundreds of NEPA documents, EIAs, and related permitting documents.
- Evaluation of baseline conditions of the existing environment to assess and monitor potential effects of renewable resource construction and development activities is a core capability of CSA’s in-house scientists and operations specialists. CSA documents the natural resources that may be sensitive to change to provide a baseline characterization from which to evaluate future potential impact.
- Identification of impact-producing factors is essential in the planning process to mitigate, manage, and monitor potential impacts associated with renewable energy development activities. CSA’s experts in coastal and marine environments, marine life, and natural resource assessment have both direct experience and professional qualifications to support the needs of developers and regulators as offshore energy development evolves to a diverse mix of wind, tidal, and wave energy sources.
