America approves Vineyard Wind project
The United States Government has approved the country’s largest commercial offshore wind farm, 24 km off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
The project will create enough electricity to power 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.
It’s also expected to create 3,600 jobs, which is good news for President Biden’s administration, which campaigned on the promise that fighting climate change by expanding clean energy sources would boost employment, rather than reduce it.
Map of the project.
The Vineyard Wind project, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has encountered a number of delays since 2017, in part because of concerns the wind turbines would interfere with commercial fishing.
Former President Donald Trump, who once described climate change as a “hoax”, cancelled Vineyard Wind’s permitting process late last year. However President Biden restarted it within a month of taking office.
"It's been a long road," Vineyard Wind Chief Executive Lars Pedersen said in a statement, “but ultimately, we are reaching the end of this process with the strongest possible project.”
The permit only allows 84 turbines instead of the up to 100 being sought, and they must be sited at least 1 nautical mile apart to ease navigation for vessels. The impact on the marine environment will also be monitored.
The first off shore wind farm in the USA went online May 1st 2017 in block Island RI. Photo by Shaun Dakin on Unsplash.
Initial construction could begin later this year and be delivering electricity to the grid by the second half of 2023.
The Biden administration has announced plans to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 by opening new areas to development, accelerating permits and boosting public financing for projects.
That announcement and the permitting of Vineyard Wind has given other offshore wind developers new confidence to ramp up timelines for their own projects. The US has lagged behind European nations in developing this technology.