BOEM starts environmental review of the Vineyard Wind South offshore wind project

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has started an environmental review of a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind, LLC for its Vineyard Wind South offshore wind project.

Once approved, the Vineyard Wind would be allowed to construct and operate over 2,000 - 2,300 MW offshore wind projects in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The proposed Vineyard Wind South project was submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid Inc and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which would consist of 130 wind turbines, two to five offshore substations, inter-array cables, and up to five export cables connecting to the onshore electric grid in Barnstable County, Massachusetts at up to three onshore substations.  The project is to be developed in phases, with phase one being the 804 MW Park City Wind project located in Connecticut.

In June 30, BOEM has published the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Vineyard Wind South project, which opens a 30-day public comment period. BOEM will hold three virtual public scoping meetings and accept comments to inform the preparation of the EIS.

The 800 MW Vineyard offshore wind project in Massachusetts, owned by Vineyard Wind LLC, has received the final federal approval in May of 2021.