The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed the environmental review of the proposed 2.6 GW New England Wind project offshore Massachusetts, being proposed by Avangrid’s unit Park City Wind.
BOEM estimates the proposed project would generate up to 2,600 MW of electricity, enough to power more than 900,000 homes with clean, renewable energy.
Proposed by Park City Wind, a subsidiary of Spanish developer Iberdrola’s Avangrid, the New England Wind project would consist of two phases - Phase 1, known as the Park City Wind Project, and Phase 2, dubbed Commonwealth Wind Project.
The project would feature a combined maximum of 130 wind turbines and electrical service platform (ESP) positions, all located within the Southern Wind Development Area (SWDA), adjacent to Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project.
The Park City Wind Project is planned to have at least 804 MW capacity, and would be located immediately southwest of Vineyard Wind 1.
The Commonwealth Wind Project would deliver at least 1,232 MW and would be constructed southwest of Phase 1 within the remainder of the SWDA.
The projects would be able to power more than 900,000 homes with clean, renewable energy.
They would be connected with up to five offshore export cables that would transmit electricity to onshore transmission systems in the Town of Barnstable and Bristol County in Massachusetts.
“Diverse public input was essential to BOEM’s careful and thorough analysis of the environmental impact of the proposed New England Wind project. This document demonstrates the administration’s steady progress towards attaining clean energy goals that will better the lives of Americans now and in the future,” said Elizabeth Klein, BOEM’s Director.
BOEM’s final environmental impact statement (Final EIS), available on its site, analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the activities laid out in the New England Wind project’s construction and operations plan and reasonable alternatives.
BOEM plans to issue a record of decision on whether to approve the project no earlier than April 2024. If the project is approved, the record of decision will also identify any conditions of approval.
On December 23, 2022, BOEM published a draft EIS, initiating a 60-day public comment period that closed February 21, 2023.