The U.S. government has approved the SouthCoast Wind Project – the country’s eleventh commercial-scale offshore wind energy initiative sanctioned under President Biden’s administration. With today’s endorsement, the Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have authorized over 19 GW of renewable energy from offshore wind energy projects – enough to power more than 6 million households.
“When we entered this Administration, there were zero approved, commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters. Today, I am proud to celebrate our eleventh endorsement, a testament to the dedication and ongoing progress made by the diligent public servants at the Department of the Interior,” stated Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “With President Biden’s guidance through the Investing in America agenda, we are tackling the climate emergency, creating jobs, and building a sustainable economy that benefits all communities.”
“The endorsement of the SouthCoast Wind Project today illustrates the strength of our collaborative approach to deploying offshore wind. To inform our decisions, our environmental reviews continue to integrate leading scientific research with vital insights from Tribal Nations, states, other governmental agencies, industry, environmental organizations, and ocean users,” indicated Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Elizabeth Klein. “As we commemorate this milestone, we look forward to the significant economic opportunities the SouthCoast Wind Project will bring to this region, both during construction and throughout the project’s duration.”
The Department has endeavored to fulfill the moment to foster a clean energy economy that is enhancing the nation’s energy grid and generating well-paid jobs across construction, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and beyond. In addition to the approval of the nation’s first 11 commercial-scale offshore wind initiatives, BOEM has conducted six offshore wind lease auctions since 2022 – including a record-breaking sale off the coast of New York and the first-ever sales off the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Gulf of Maine shores. The Department has also initiated steps to cultivate a sustainable offshore wind industry by promoting project labor agreements, enhancing workforce training, strengthening a domestic supply chain, and through increased engagement with Tribes, fisheries, underrepresented communities and ocean users.
The SouthCoast Wind Project is projected to produce up to 2.4 GW of offshore wind energy for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, sufficient to power over 840,000 homes. The project area spans approximately 127,388 acres and about 26 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nm south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The project, as authorized, encompasses the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and as many as 5 offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 sites, and up to eight offshore export cables potentially landing in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts. Compared to SouthCoast’s originally proposed project, the selected alternative removes up to six wind turbine sites in the northeastern section of the Lease Area to mitigate potential impacts on foraging habitat and possible displacement of wildlife from this habitat adjacent to Nantucket Shoals.
Press release from DOI
Filed Under: News
