WASHINGTON (AP) – A huge wind farm on the Massachusetts coast is nearing federal approval, setting what the Biden administration hopes will be a model for a sharp increase in the development of offshore wind power in the east coast.
The Vineyard Wind project, south of Martha’s Vineyard, near Cape Cod, would create 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes in New England. If approved, the $ 2 billion project would be the first utility-scale wind power development in federal waters. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island.
Vineyard Wind is significantly farther from the sea than Cape Wind, a former Massachusetts offshore wind project that famously failed amid opposition from the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, among others, who considered it a hidden bird. in its sea views.
Proponents say Vineyard Wind, located nearly 24 miles off the coast, is better located than Cape Wind and uses superior technology with fewer larger turbine blades. If considered a preferred alternative, the project’s giant turbines will be located a nautical mile away, making it easier for fishing vessels to move around the leaves, officials said.
The Department of the Interior said Monday it has completed an environmental analysis of Vineyard Wind, with a decision on whether the planned project would be approved as soon as next month.
President Joe Biden has promised to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his administration’s efforts to curb climate change. The likely approval of Vineyard Wind, one of two dozen offshore wind projects along the east coast at different stages of development, marks a sharp shift in the Trump administration, which hampered wind power both on land and in the ocean.
While President Donald Trump often mocked wind power as an expensive way to make electricity with the slaughter of birds, and his administration resisted or opposed wind projects across the country, including Vineyard Wind.
The developer of the project temporarily withdrew his application late last year to try to avoid possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden offered a new opening of the project shortly after taking office in January.
“The United States is about to become a world leader in clean energy,” said Laura Daniel Davis, a senior Interior Department official.
Vineyard Wind, which is scheduled to go live in 2023, is the first of many offshore wind projects that will help the nation “fight climate change, improve resilience through reliable energy, and stimulate economic development to create well-paying jobs. said Amanda Lefton. , director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an Home Office agency overseeing the project.
“The Biden administration is once again putting the wind in the sails of this new vital industry,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Longtime animator of the Vineyard Wind project. “Responsible wind development on our coast will (energize) the economy, provide affordable electricity and move us to a safer future for the climate,” Markey said.
Despite the enthusiasm, offshore wind development is still in its infancy in the United States, far behind the progress made by European countries. In addition to the Block Island project, a small wind farm operates off the coast of Virginia.
Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said in a statement that the company “looks forward to reaching the final step in the federal permitting process and being able to launch an industry that has such huge potential for economic development.” in communities located on the east coast of the coast “.
The renewable energy industry believes the Biden administration presents a huge opportunity for growth, especially in accelerating offshore wind projects that the industry has long sought.
“The offshore industry is about to take off,” said Amy Farrell, senior vice president of the American Clean Power Association, a trading group for renewable energy. The group expects 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power to be built in the next decade.
Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $ 100 billion in new investments by 2030, “but the Office of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leases said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Association of Industries, another trade group.
Not everyone is encouraging the rising sea wind.
Andrew Minkiewicz, a lawyer for the Fisheries Survival Fund, which defends the sea scallop fishing industry, said the group has concerns about the Trump administration’s abrupt change in attitude toward Biden.
The project appeared dead (or at least on indefinite hiatus) recently last year, “and the new administration comes in and says no, we’ll move on,” Minkiewicz said. “If it weren’t for a clean energy project, I think there would be an absolute uproar.”
Maine fishing groups in Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could cause huge stretches of ocean to be left out of their catch. While Vineyard Wind is not in a critical area for scallop fishing, other potential sites along the Atlantic coast could pose a significant threat to scallops, Minkiewicz said.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.