The Biden Administration today announced the approval for the construction and operation of Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind farm.
The announcement was made jointly by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, who were joined by labor union leaders.
The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind energy project will be located approximately 12 nautical miles offshore Martha’s Vineyard and 12 nautical miles offshore Nantucket in the northern portion of Vineyard Wind’s lease area. The project is anticipated to create 3,600 jobs and provide enough power for 400,000 homes and businesses.
“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 combatting climate change and powering our nation,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “Today is one of many actions we are determined t
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NEW BEDFORD Vineyard Wind today received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the final major step in the federal review process for the first commercial scale offshore wind farm in the United States.
“Today’s Record of Decision is not about the start of a single project, but the launch of a new industry,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen. “Receiving this final major federal approval means the jobs, economic benefits and clean energy revolution associated with the Vineyard Wind 1 project can finally come to fruition. It’s been a long road to get to this point, but ultimately, we are reaching the end of this process with the strongest possible project.”
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Ørsted and Eversource plan to build Revolution Wind, a 704-megawatt offshore wind project south of Rhode Island. BOEM graphic.
Avangrid executives say they expect federal regulators to issue a final decision on the Vineyard Wind offshore wind plan in coming days, and to be sending energy into Massachusetts in 2023 with the first truly utility-scale U.S. project.
In its 50/50 venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Avangrid has secured all major contracts for construction, including agreement with Foss Maritime to supply U.S. flag transport of components for installation offshore of southern New England by Belgium-based DEME Group’s wind turbine installation vessel.
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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.