Story at a glance
- Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has plans for a more than $2 billion, 800-megawatt wind farm 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
- The Department of the Interior on Monday said its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed its final environmental impact review of the offshore wind project, a critical step before it makes a decision on whether it will approve or deny the request to construct the project.
- It’s estimated the project will generate enough renewable electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts and eliminate 1.68 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
The nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm aimed at delivering clean renewable energy to hundreds of thousands of Americans is inching closer to receiving federal approval.
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has plans for a more than $2 billion, 800-megawatt wind farm 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
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It’s estimated the project will generate enough renewable electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts and eliminate more than 1.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Vineyard Wind hopes to deliver energy to the state by 2023.
The developer is one step closer to making that a possibility after the Department of the Interior on Monday said its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed its final environmental impact review of the offshore wind project, a critical step before it makes a decision on whether it will approve or deny the request to construct the project.
BOEM will publish a notice of the availability of the final environmental impact statement later this week, with a decision on whether to approve the project expected as soon as next month, according to The Associated Press. The project still must secure approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
“More than three years of federal review and public comment is nearing its conclusion and 2021 is poised to be a momentous year for our project and the broader offshore wind industry,” Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen said.
“Offshore wind is a historic opportunity to build a new industry that will lead to the creation of thousands of jobs, reduce electricity rates for consumers and contribute significantly to limiting the impacts of climate change,” Pedersen said.
The Biden administration has vowed to accelerate the development of renewable energy on public lands and in offshore waters and aims to double offshore wind power by 2030. Offshore wind is still in its infancy in the U.S., with two small projects off Rhode Island and Virginia.
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