Another industrial offshore wind farm off the coast of the Vineyard is preparing to start construction.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved Sunrise Wind’s construction and operations plan on June 21, according to a press release from the agency. This is the final approval the project needed from BOEM.
According to Ørsted, offshore wind construction will “ramp up” later this year, and Sunrise Wind is expected to be fully operational by 2026.
Sunrise Wind, an offshore wind project owned by Ørsted, will consist of 84 wind turbines, and produce 924 megawatts of power. According to BOEM, that is enough to power more than 320,000 homes annually. The project lease area is located around 18 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, and will be providing power to New York. By comparison, Sunrise Wind will be located around 30 miles east of Montauk, N.Y.
BOEM’s approval follows the greenlight from the U.S. Department of the Interior in March, which included an environmental review of the project.
“BOEM’s approval of the Sunrise Wind project represents another step in building a thriving offshore wind energy industry,” Elizabeth Klein, director of BOEM, said in the federal agency release. “The Biden-Harris administration continues to demonstrate its commitment to advancing responsible projects like Sunrise Wind as part of our strategy to foster good-paying jobs for local communities, ignite economic development, and fight the harmful effects of climate change.”
Construction is underway for another Ørsted project even closer to the Vineyard. Revolution Wind, a 704-megawatt offshore wind project 12 miles from Aquinnah, will provide power to Connecticut and Rhode Island. The company completed installing its first turbine foundation in mid-May.
Revolution Wind will consist of 65 wind turbines and two offshore substations. The U.S. Department of the Interior stated the offshore wind farm will be able to power more than 250,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Meanwhile, Avangrid announced on Tuesday that Vineyard Wind 1 now has a total of 10 offshore wind turbines in operation, delivering 136 megawatts of power to the New England electricity grid. Avangrid states this is enough to power over 60,000 homes in Massachusetts.
Vineyard Wind 1 is located around 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The offshore wind farm will consist of 62 wind turbines generating 806 megawatts of power, which the Interior Department has said would be enough to power 400,000 homes and businesses.
Avangrid states the construction of Vineyard Wind has installed 21 turbines, and 47 foundations and transition pieces for more turbines.
