Published May 11. 2021 2:26PM | Updated May 11. 2021 6:32PM
Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post
The Biden administration on Tuesday approved the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, a project that envisions building 62 turbines off Martha s Vineyard, Mass., and creating enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.
Vineyard Wind is the first of a series of massive offshore wind farm proposals that could put more than 3,000 wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to North Carolina. The Biden administration has committed to processing the other 13 projects currently under federal review by 2025 in an attempt to meet the administration s ambitious goal of producing 30,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030, powering some 10 million homes.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced that it has approved construction of what it described as the first large-scale offshore wind project in the country.
The Vineyard Wind project, which will consist of up to 84 wind turbines, is expected to be able to produce enough energy to power more than 400,000 homes, the administration said.
The project will be located 12 nautical miles from both Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and Nantucket, Mass., and is expected to be completed in 2023.
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“A clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States. The approval of this project is an important step toward advancing the Administration’s goals to create good paying union jobs while combating climate change and powering our nation,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland
Interior Department approves the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project, first large-scale project in the country washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Biden administration approves Vineyard Wind project, first major offshore wind farm in U.S. Alex Kuffner, The Providence Journal
Believe it or not, Texas is the nation s largest producer of wind energy
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The Biden administration has given the green light to Vineyard Wind I, a project of 62 turbines to be built in waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts that would be the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in America.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was on the call with reporters Tuesday to announce final approval of the long-awaited $2.8-billion project that would be built between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard, produce enough power for about 400,000 homes and go into operation in 2023. As Rhode Island governor, Raimondo oversaw construction of a five-turbine demonstration project off Block Island that in 2016 became the first offshore wind farm in the nation.
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Offshore Milestone as Feds Back Vineyard Wind Project
The first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. has received the go-ahead from the federal government, with industry insiders saying the milestone decision is likely to spur more rapid development of the nation’s offshore wind projects.
The Vineyard Wind installation, an 800-MW project that will use GE’s Haliade-X turbines, on May 11 received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The ROD is the last major step in the federal review process for Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).