BOEM Announces Massachusetts Offshore Wind Meetings

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ Office of Coastal Zone Management and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center will host public information meetings to discuss recent and upcoming planning and assessment activities related to future offshore wind projects in federal waters off Massachusetts.

Topics will include an overview of the state’s new energy diversity law and updates on marine mammal and bird studies, metocean data collection, geological surveys, and transmission planning.

Representatives from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will also be in attendance.

The first meeting will be held on Monday, 14 November, 2016, 5:00 – 7:00 PM local time, at the Tisbury Senior Center, Council on Aging, 34 Pine Tree Road, Vineyard Haven.

The second meeting will be held on Tuesday, 15 November, 2016, 5:00 – 7:00 PM local time, at the New Bedford Public Library, 613 Pleasant Street, New Bedford.

In August 2016, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a new energy legislation which calls for development of 1,600MW of offshore wind capacity by 2027.

At the beginning of 2015, BOEM held a competitive offshore wind lease sale in federal waters offshore Massachusetts and named RES America Developments and Offshore MW as the winners of the 187,523 acre Wind Lease Area OCS-A 0500 and the 166,886 acre Wind Lease Area OCS-A 0501, respectively.

RES subsequently sold the lease and the project rights to DONG Energy, which now plans to construct the 1,000MW Bay State Wind offshore wind farm at the site.

In late August 2016, Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) acquired 100% of OffshoreMW, which has since re-branded itself to Vineyard Wind.

Fugro has been carrying out geotechnical surveys at both sites since October. In September, Alpine Ocean started a preliminary geophysical survey at Vineyard Wind’s lease area.