Feds Approve More Offshore Wind Projects South of Martha’s Vineyard

OAK BLUFFS – The wind energy industry is seeing further expansion with the recent approval of more turbines south of Martha’s Vineyard by the federal government.

Revolution Wind will be located in federal waters near Rhode Island and the Vineyard.

The Revolution Wind project will have an estimated capacity of more than 700 megawatts of renewable energy, capable of powering nearly 250,000 homes, and is expected to create about 1,200 jobs during construction, regulators said.

The project is a cut-down version of the original proposal, which the Department of the Interior requested to protect visual resources and ocean floor habitat.

The Revolution Wind project is another step toward the Biden administration’s goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

“Together with industry, labor and partners from coast to coast, we are building an entirely new industry off the east and west and Gulf coasts,” Haaland said in a statement.

The project joins others including Vineyard Wind 1 just south of the Vineyard, which is expected to begin producing power in October. 

The industry has also seen several obstacles though, with Avangrid’s other offshore wind project, Commonwealth Wind, recently agreeing to pay a $48 million penalty for terminating contracts with Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil after a failed attempt to negotiate its contracts with the state.

The Revolution Wind plan identifies possible locations for the installation of 65 wind turbines and two offshore substations.

The Vineyard Wind project includes 62 turbines and is expected to put out 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, beginning this year.

Revolution Wind will create a fund to compensate for losses by recreational and commercial fisheries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts — as well as fisheries from other states — directly related to the construction of the turbines.

The project will also take steps to reduce potential harm to protected species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon.

STEVE LeBLANC, with The Associated Press, contributed to this article