US approves 2.4GW offshore wind project

The US Department of the Interior (DOI) has approved the country’s 11th commercial-scale offshore wind project – SouthCoast Wind, formerly known as Mayflower Wind.

With this approval, DOI has approved over 19GW of offshore wind energy projects, enough to power more than 6m homes.

The SouthCoast Wind Project is expected to generate up to 2.4GW of offshore wind energy for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, enough to power more than 840,000 homes.

The project area covers approximately 515 sq km and is around 48 km south of Martha’s Vineyard and 37 km south of Nantucket.

The project includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators, up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables potentially making landfall in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Compared to SouthCoast’s original proposed project, the selected alternative removes up to six wind turbine positions in the northeastern portion of the lease area to reduce potential impacts on foraging habitat and potential displacement of wildlife from this habitat adjacent to Nantucket Shoals.

The project is being developed by Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie.