Several fishing and environmental groups in the US have filed a suit in federal court saying that the Departments of Interior and Commerce and their sub-agencies violated the law when they approved the Record of Decision (ROD) for Avangrid’s New England Wind 1 and 2 offshore wind farms.
A consortium comprising ACK for Whales, environmental and fisheries groups, and the Wampanoag Indian Tribe filed the suit in the District of Columbia in Washington, DC, on 22 May.
According to the plaintiffs, the approval of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the two offshore wind projects by the Departments of Interior and Commerce, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and BOEM violated several federal laws, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and Administrative Procedure Act.
The suit seeks declarative relief, finding that the government violated these laws, and an injunction to stop these offshore wind projects from moving forward.
The New England Wind offshore wind farms, formerly known as Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind, received the final approval needed from BOEM in July 2024.
The Construction and Operations Plan for the two projects includes up to 129 wind turbines, making up a combined capacity of up to 2.6 GW.
New England Wind 1 is a 791 MW project, scheduled to commence construction later this year. The wind farm is expected to deliver renewable energy to Massachusetts by 2029. The 1 GW New England 2 does not yet have a state lined up to receive its power.
New England 1 was one of the winners in Massachusetts’ fourth offshore wind solicitation in September 2024.
In terms of other recent news coming from the US, Equinor’s Empire Wind project was cleared to resume construction activities after it was halted in May. The semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) Thialf arrived in the US and is expected to soon install the first foundations offshore New York.