WASHINGTON (AP) – A large wind farm on the Massachusetts coast is nearing federal approval and the Biden government is setting an example for a sharp increase in the development of wind energy abroad along the East Coast.
The Vineyard Wind Project, south of Martha’s Vineyard near Cape Cod, would generate 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes in New England. If approved, the $ 2 billion project would be the first wind power development on federal waters. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island.
Vineyard Wind is significantly further afield than Cape Wind, a previous offshore wind project in Massachusetts that famously failed under opposition from, among others, the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, who considered it a bird killer in their ocean.
Supporters say that Vineyard Wind, which is located almost 24 kilometers from the sea, is better located than Cape Wind and uses excellent technology with smaller and larger turbine blades. According to an alternative preferred, the giant turbines of the project will be located at least 1 nautical mile apart, allowing the fishing boats to move around the blades more easily, officials said.
The Department of the Interior said Monday it had completed an environmental analysis of Vineyard Wind, deciding whether to approve the project until next month.
President Joe Biden has promised to double foreign wind production by 2030 as part of his government’s efforts to slow down climate change. The probable approval of Vineyard Wind – one of two dozen offshore wind projects along the East Coast in various stages of development – indicates a sharp turnaround by the Trump administration, which halted wind power both ashore and in the ocean.
As president, Donald Trump regularly mocked wind power as an expensive way to make birds to make electricity, and his government has opposed or opposed wind projects nationwide, including Vineyard Wind.
The developer of the project temporarily withdrew its application late last year in an attempt to ward off possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden offers a new opening for the project shortly after taking office in January.
“The United States is poised to become a global leader in clean energy,” said Laura Daniel Davis, a senior Department of the Interior official.
Vineyard Wind, expected to go into operation in 2023, is the first of many offshore wind projects that will help the country combat climate change, improve resilience by encouraging reliable power and economic development to provide well-paying jobs. to create. , director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a home affairs agency that oversees the project.
“The Biden government is putting wind in the sails of this important new industry,” said Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass., A longtime cheerleader for the Vineyard Wind project. “Responsible coastal wind development (will) liven up the economy, provide affordable electricity and move us further into a climate-safe future,” Markey said.
Despite the enthusiasm, offshore wind development is still in its infancy in the US, far behind the progress of countries in Europe. In addition to the Block Island project, there is a small wind farm off the coast of Virginia.
Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind, said in a statement that the company “looks forward to reaching the final step in the federal licensing process and launching an industry that has such tremendous potential for economic development in communities. and down to the east coast. “
The renewable energy industry believes that the administration of Biden offers great growth opportunities, especially in speeding up wind projects abroad that the industry has long sought.
“The foreign industry is about to start,” said Amy Farrell, senior vice president of the American Clean Power Association, a renewable energy trade group. The group expects 30 gigawatts of wind energy to be built at sea over the next decade.
Wind developers are ready to create tens of thousands of jobs by 2030 and generate more than $ 100 billion in new investments, ‘but the Ocean Energy Management Bureau must first open the door to new leases,’ says Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean. Industries Association, another trading group.
Not everyone rejoices at the rise of wind at sea.
Andrew Minkiewicz, a lawyer for the Fisheries Survival Fund, which works for the sea scallop fishing industry, said the group was concerned about the sudden shift in the Trump administration’s attitude towards Biden.
The project looks dead – or at least indefinitely – as recently as last year, “and the new government comes in and says no, we’re moving on,” Minkiewicz said. “If it were not for a clean energy project, I would think there would be an absolute uproar.”
Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fears that large offshore wind projects may restrict large parts of the ocean to their catch. While Vineyard Wind is not in an area critical to the scallop fishery, other potential areas along the Atlantic coast could pose a major threat to scallops, Minkiewicz said.
___
Whittle reports from Portland, Maine.