The Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) today issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will allocate approximately $3.4 million for offshore wind and wildlife research along the U.S. East Coast.
The goal of the RFP is to identify and fund data collection and research that increases understanding of the potential regional scale effects of offshore wind energy development on wildlife and marine ecosystems. RWSC requires that all research outputs and data are made available to decision makers as soon as possible and preserved for future research.
Funding for this research comes through Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates (ORECs) from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The NYSERDA OREC Solicitation required bidders to include funding toward regional scale research on wildlife and fisheries. The winning bidder, Empire Wind 1, is being developed by Equinor, LLC (Equinor).
RWSC used the Integrated Science Plan for Offshore Wind, Wildlife, and Habitats in U.S. Atlantic Waters (Science Plan)—which was collaboratively developed by government agencies, industry, nonprofits, and the research community—as the blueprint for the specific types of research requested in this RFP. This RFP is requesting studies and analyses of any impacts from offshore wind infrastructure (e.g., foundations in the water, turbines in air) on bird and bat activity, the distribution and behavior of marine mammals, and the processes in ocean habitats upon which these species depend. RWSC will ensure that awardees follow robust peer-reviewed research plans and make all data and results publicly available.
Since its establishment in 2021, RWSC has served as a coordination hub for offshore wind research to increase collaboration, limit redundancy, suggest common data standards, and increase data sharing and transparency. RWSC regularly convenes the states, federal agencies, offshore wind companies, environmental nonprofits, and seven expert Subcommittees to advance and collaborative fund Science Plan goals.
The Regional RFP will support projects in the following key areas:
The RFP will be conducted in two steps, with Concept Papers due first on April 1, 2025.
The full RFP and materials can be dowloaded here.
Proposal materials will be accepted through RWSC’s Proposal Submission Platform (https://proposals.rwsc.org).
Additional Background
RWSC issued a second RFP today to support implementation of the POWERON (Partnership for an Offshore Wind Energy Regional Observation Network) program, in collaboration with BOEM and the RWSC Marine Mammal Subcommittee. The POWERON RFP seeks a contractor to support passive acoustic monitoring for large whales in U.S. Atlantic waters. RWSC will ensure that the activities eventually funded via both RFPs are coordinated and maximize benefits to decision makers and scientists studying offshore wind, wildlife, and marine ecosystems. Download the POWERON RFP here.
Interested parties are encouraged to sign up for email notifications about this and other RWSC updates via the RWSC website. All are welcome to join future Subcommittee meetings via the RWSC Events page.
RWSC is co-hosted by the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO). RWSC’s annual work plan is funded by financial contributions and in-kind support from NROC, MARCO, government agencies, offshore wind companies, and environmental nonprofits. NROC and MARCO are the two Regional Ocean Partnerships on the U.S. Atlantic coast and are federally authorized to promote coordination among various government agencies and collaboration related to shared priorities, thereby reducing duplication of efforts, and maximizing opportunities to leverage support.