WASHINGTON (AP) – A huge wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts is nearing federal approval, establishing what the Biden government hopes will be a model for a sharp increase in offshore wind development along the East Coast.
The Vineyard Wind project, south of Martha’s Vineyard, near Cape Cod, would create 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes in New England. If approved, the $ 2 billion project would be the first utility-scale wind energy development in federal waters. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island.
Vineyard Wind is significantly further from the coast than Cape Wind, a former Massachusetts offshore wind project that notoriously failed amid opposition from the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, among others, who considered him a bird-killing monstrosity in their views of the ocean.
Supporters say Vineyard Wind, located almost 24 kilometers from the coast, is better situated than Cape Wind and uses superior technology with fewer and bigger turbine blades. Under a preferential alternative being considered, the project’s giant turbines will be located at least 1 nautical mile from each other, allowing fishing boats to move more easily around the paddles, officials said.
The Interior Department said on Monday that it had completed an environmental review of Vineyard Wind, with a decision on the approval of the project scheduled for next month.
President Joe Biden has pledged to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his government’s efforts to slow climate change. The likely approval of Vineyard Wind – one of two dozen offshore wind projects along the East Coast at various stages of development – marks a sharp turnaround by the Trump administration, which has blocked wind power both on land and in the ocean.
How President Donald Trump often ridiculed wind energy as an expensive way to kill birds to produce electricity, and its management resisted or opposed wind projects across the country, including Vineyard Wind.
The project developer temporarily withdrew his request last year in an attempt to avoid a possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden opened a new opening for the project shortly after taking office in January.
“The United States is about to become a global leader in clean energy,” said Laura Daniel Davis, a senior official in the Department of the Interior.
Vineyard Wind, due to start operating in 2023, is the first of many offshore wind projects that will help the nation “fight climate change, improve resilience through reliable energy and stimulate economic development to create well-paying jobs”, said Amanda Lefton, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an Interior agency that oversees the project.
“The Biden administration is putting the wind back in the sails of this vital new industry,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., A former cheerleader for the Vineyard Wind project. “The responsible development of the wind off our coast (will) energize the economy, provide affordable electricity and take us further in the future for the climate,” said Markey.
Despite the enthusiasm, the development of offshore wind energy is still in its infancy in the United States, far behind the progress made by countries in Europe. In addition to the Block Island project, a small wind farm operates off the coast of Virginia.
Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said in a statement that the company hopes to “reach the final step in the federal licensing process and be able to launch an industry that has enormous potential for economic development in communities along the east coast” .
The renewable energy industry believes that the Biden administration presents a great opportunity for growth, especially in the acceleration of offshore wind projects that the industry has long sought.
“The offshore industry is about to take off,” said Amy Farrell, senior vice president of the American Clean Power Association, a commercial renewable energy group. The group expects 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power to be built in the next decade.
Wind developers are prepared to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $ 100 billion in new investments by 2030, “but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leases,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Association of Industries, another commercial group.
Not everyone is celebrating the rise of offshore wind.
Andrew Minkiewicz, a lawyer for the Fisheries Survival Fund, which defends the scallop fishing industry, said the group is concerned about the abrupt change of attitude from the Trump administration to Biden.
The project looked dead – or at least indefinitely – last year, “and the new government comes in and says no, let’s move on,” said Minkiewicz. “If this was not a clean energy project, I think there would be an absolute uproar.”
Groups of fishermen from Maine to Florida have expressed fears that large offshore wind projects could make large areas of the ocean outside the limits of their catch. Although Vineyard Wind is not located in a critical area for scallop fishing, other potential locations along the Atlantic coast could pose a major threat to scallops, said Minkiewicz.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.