Biden administration approves eighth offshore wind project

The Biden Administration has given the green light to its eighth offshore wind farm with the approval of the 2,600-megawatt New England Wind project located off Massachusetts.

With approval, the Department of the Interior has given the green light to offshore wind projects with the potential to generate approximately 10 gigawatts of wind energy, enough to power four million homes.

“The Biden-Harris administration has built an offshore wind industry from the ground up after years of delay by the previous administration. “Today we celebrate the incredible progress being made toward our goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030,” said Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “The New England Wind project will help reduce consumer costs, combat climate change, create family-sustaining jobs, and ensure all communities have access to economic opportunity.”

The Park City Wind project, proposed by Connecticut-based Avangrid, Inc., is located approximately 20 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The two-phase project plan includes up to 129 wind turbines.

In February 2024, BOEM released the final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed New England Wind project. This statement assesses the potential environmental impacts of the project’s construction and operations plan and has the potential to generate up to 2,600 megawatts of renewable electricity, which could power more than 900,000 homes.

The two phases include the 791-megawatt New England Wind 1 project and the 1,080-megawatt New England Wind 2 project. The project will use facilities in Salem, New Bedford and Bridgeport for various operations.

Since the start of the Biden Administration, BOEM has held four offshore wind leasing auctions, generating nearly $5.5 billion in high bids. This includes record offshore sales in New York and New Jersey, and first-ever offshore sales on the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The Department is also exploring additional opportunities for offshore wind development in the U.S. and is taking steps toward union-built projects and a national supply chain.

Today’s approval continues the Biden Administration’s commitment to advancing offshore wind energy projects, with previous approvals including:
Vineyard Wind, 800 megawatts, Massachusetts, May 2021
South Fork Wind, 130 megawatts, New York, November 2021
Ocean Wind 1, 1,100 megawatts, New Jersey, July 2023
Revolution Wind, 704 megawatts, Rhode Island, August 2023
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), 2,600 megawatts, Virginia, October 2023
Empire Wind (1 and 2), 2,076 megawatts, New York, November 2023
Sunrise Wind, 924 megawatts, New York, March 2024

The first two approved projects, Vineyard Wind and South Fork, began delivering power in January and March of this year, respectively.

“With the approval of the New England Wind project, we have approved more than 10 gigawatts of offshore wind projects in less than three years,” said Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Elizabeth Klein. “BOEM takes pride in our open communication and frequent collaboration with federal partners, tribal nations, states, industries and ocean users to shape project reviews and avoid or minimize conflicts with existing users and marine life.”