The Biden administration has approved the nation's first major offshore wind farm in federal waters, the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, announced U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Commerce Ginaa Raimondo.
The offshore wind farm was proposed by Avangrid, a unit of Spain’s Iberdrola, and Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners more than three years ago; however, it was delayed due to environmental and commercial fishing concerns. The Trump administration had canceled the Vineyard Wind permitting process in late 2020.
Vineyard Wind is expected to power to more than 400,000 Massachusetts homes once its turbines are installed 15 miles offshore. The project is set to be completed in 2023.
The project is part of President Joe Biden’s effort to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. Currently, there are two wind farms along the East Coast, generating more than 50 megawatts of capacity.
