BOEM to resume Vineyard Wind 1 review process

February 4, 2021, by Adrijana Buljan

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will resume the review process for the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project, after the developer revoked its temporary withdrawal of the Construction and Operation Plan (COP) and requested the resumption of the process.

In December 2020, Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), switched from the MHI Vestas to the GE Haliade-X wind turbine model and paused the consideration of its proposal at BOEM while it reviewed whether the use of Haliade-X turbines warranted any modifications to the COP.

On 22 January, Vineyard Wind completed the technical review with no changes to the COP and submitted a letter rescinding its temporary withdrawal and requesting that BOEM resumes the process for its 800 MW project offshore Massachusetts.

BOEM announced on 3 February that it intended to resume the environmental review of the Vineyard Wind project and proceed with development of a Final Environmental Impact Statement.

“Offshore wind has the potential to help our nation combat climate change, improve resilience through reliable power, and spur economic development to create good-paying jobs”, said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton. “BOEM is committed to conducting a robust and timely review of the proposed project”.

“We’re very pleased that BOEM has decided to move forward with the permitting process for our Vineyard Wind 1 project”, said a Vineyard Wind spokesperson. “We look forward to working with the agency as we launch an industry that will create thousands of good paying jobs while also taking meaningful steps to reduce the impact of climate change”.

The developer still expects to reach financial close in the second half of 2021 and to have the offshore wind farm up and running in 2023.

The 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 is located some 24 kilometres off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The project will generate electricity for more than 400,000 households and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years, according to the developer.