WASHINGTON (AP) – A huge wind farm on the Massachusetts coast is approaching federal approval, setting what the Biden administration hopes will be a model for a sharp rise in offshore wind power 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 New England homes. If approved, the $ 2 billion project would be the first development of utility-scale wind energy in federal waters. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in Rhode Island-controlled waters.
Vineyard Wind is significantly farther from the coast than Cape Wind, a former offshore wind project in Massachusetts that failed famously amid opposition from the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, among others, who considered it an eye that kill the birds in the ocean.
Proponents say the Vineyard Wind, located nearly 24 kilometers offshore, is better located than Cape Wind and uses superior technology with fewer and larger turbine blades. According to a preferred alternative, the project’s giant turbines will be located at least 1 nautical mile away, allowing fishing boats to move more easily around the blades, officials said.
The Interior Ministry said Monday it had completed an environmental analysis of Vineyard Wind, with a decision on project approval expected next month.
President Joe Biden has vowed to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his administration’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 sudden change by the Trump administration, which has hindered wind power both onshore and in the ocean. .
While President Donald Trump frequently ridiculed wind energy as an expensive way of slaughtering birds to produce electricity, and its administration has resisted or opposed national wind projects, including Vineyard Wind.
The developer of the project temporarily withdrew his application at the end of last year, in an attempt to prevent the possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden offered a new opening for the project shortly after taking office in January.
“The United States is poised to become a global leader in clean energy,” said Laura Daniel Davis, a senior Interior Department official.
Vineyard Wind, due to become operational 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-paid jobs.” , said Amanda Lefton, director of the Office of Ocean Energy Management, an in-house agency that oversees the project.
“The Biden administration is putting the wind back on the sails of this new vital industry,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., A longtime cheerleader for the Vineyard Wind project. “Responsible wind development on our coast will boost the economy, provide affordable electricity and move us into a more secure future for the climate,” Markey said.
Despite the enthusiasm, the development of offshore wind turbines is still in its infancy in the United States, well behind the progress made by European countries. 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 is “looking forward to reaching the final step in the federal licensing process and being able to launch an industry that has such tremendous potential for economic development in communities.” up and down the east coast ”.
The renewable energy industry believes that the Biden administration presents a huge opportunity for growth, especially in accelerating the offshore wind projects that the industry has been looking for for a long time.
“The offshore industry is about to take off,” said Amy Farrell, senior vice president of the American Clean Energy Association, a renewable energy trading group. The group expects to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power over the next decade.
Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $ 100 billion in new investment by 2030, “but the Ocean Energy Management Bureau must first open the door to new leases,” he said. Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, another trade group.
Not everyone encourages the rise of offshore wind.
Andrew Minkiewicz, a lawyer for the Fisheries Survival Fund, which advocates for the shellfish fishing industry, said the group has concerns about the sudden change in attitude from the Trump administration to Biden.
The project has been dead – or at least in an indefinite break – since last year, “and the new administration comes and says no, we will move on,” Minkiewicz said. “If this were not a clean energy project, I think there would be an absolute revolt.”
Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fears that large offshore wind projects could cause huge areas of the ocean to be banned from their catches. While Vineyard Wind is not in a critical area for shellfish fishing, other potential sites along the Atlantic coast could pose a major threat to shellfish, Minkiewicz said.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.