Vineyard Wind has applied for federal and state construction permits with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ Energy Facilities Siting Board to construct a 800MW wind farm offshore Massachusetts.
The developer informed about this along with the news that it submitted a proposal to deliver power generated by its 800MW offshore wind farm to the Massachusetts power distribution companies.
Vineyard Wind will build the wind farm together with Iberdrola’s U.S.-based subsidiary Avangrid Renewables, who acquired a 50% stake in the from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) earlier this year.
By filing for construction permits, Vineyard Wind says it is on track to completing the permitting process in time to begin construction in 2019.
“The Clean Energy bid submission in tandem with the state and federal permit filings bring Vineyard Wind one step closer toward building Massachusetts’ first offshore wind project, a facility that will serve as an accelerator for the local clean energy economy and green tech workforce,” said Lars Thaaning Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind.
According to the company, the project will become the first commercial large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S., which will soon deliver economic development and clean energy benefits to residents and businesses in the Commonwealth.
The project will put hundreds of Massachusetts’ residents to work through its Windward Workforce program and will immediately boost development of the supply chain sector through its offshore wind accelerator program, the developer added.
“Vineyard Wind is confident that its proposal to start building Massachusetts’ first offshore wind project in 2019 is the right approach for local residents and businesses eager to reap the abundant environmental and economic benefits that are associated with large-scale renewable and sustainable wind energy,” said Erich Stephens, Chief Development Officer of Vineyard Wind.
Photo: Image for illustrative purposes only. Source: Iberdrola