Massachusetts Activities

What’s New? 

New England Wind - Record of Decision (ROD)

On April 2, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced the approval of the New England Wind offshore wind project. The New England Wind project is expected to generate up to 2,600 megawatts of electricity, sufficient to power more than 900,000 homes with clean renewable energy. The lease area is located about 20 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and about 24 nm southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The Record of Decision (ROD) documents the decision to approve the construction of up to 129 wind turbines within the lease area.  The following documents are available for your viewing.

Sunrise Wind

On March 26, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced the approval of the Sunrise Wind offshore wind project. The Sunrise Wind project will have a total capacity of 924-megawatt (MW) of clean, renewable energy that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) estimates could power more than 320,000 homes per year. The lease area is located approximately 16.4 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., approximately 26.5 nm east of Montauk, N.Y., and approximately 14.5 nm from Block Island, R.I. The Record of Decision (ROD) documents the decision to approve the construction of up to 84 wind turbines within the lease area. 

Vineyard Northeast  

On Mar. 22, 2024, BOEM announced that on March 25, 2024, it would publish a “Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Vineyard Northeast Project on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Massachusetts.” The March 25, 2024, publication of the Notice of Intent (NOI) opened a 45-day public comment period for the Vineyard Northeast Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) ending at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 9, 2024. The public scoping process is to identify issues and potential alternatives for consideration in the EIS. During the comment period, BOEM will hold two virtual and two in-person public scoping meetings. More information is available on the Vineyard Northeast project page.   

The following documents are available for your viewing.

During the open public comment period, BOEM will hold two virtual and two in-person public meetings. More information can be found on the Vineyard Northeast page. 

New England Wind 

On Feb. 26, 2024, BOEM announced the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed New England Wind project, located about 20 nautical miles (nm) from the southwest corner of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and about 24 nm from Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The following documents are available for your viewing.

See more on the New England Wind project page. 

Beacon Wind

On Feb. 1, 2024, BOEM announced the publication of the Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for Additional Site Assessment Activities on Beacon Wind, LLC’s Renewable Energy Lease OCS-A 0520 in the Federal Register on Feb. 2, 2024. The publication opens a 30-day public comment period for the Draft EA which closes on Mar. 4, 2024.  

See more on Beacon Wind project page.

Efforts Underway

There are several renewable energy efforts underway offshore Massachusetts. 

Public Engagement

BOEM coordinates Outer Continental Shelf renewable energy activities offshore Massachusetts with its federal, state, local, and tribal government partners through its Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force. BOEM also coordinates public information meetings to help keep interested stakeholders updated on major renewable energy milestones. To obtain information discussed during these meetings click on the links below.

Related Press Releases

On December 29, 2010, BOEM issued a Request for Interest (RFI) in the Federal Register to assess whether there were parties interested in developing commercial wind facilities off the coast of Massachusetts. This area was delineated in consultation with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Task Force. Based on the responses received to the RFI, BOEM determined there to be competitive interest in the location identified and continued with the competitive leasing process.

On February 6, 2012, BOEM published a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to seek additional nominations from entities interested in commercial wind energy leases within the Call Area offshore Massachusetts. BOEM sought public input on the potential for wind development in the Call Area, including comments on site conditions, resources, and existing uses of the area that would be relevant to BOEM’s wind energy development authorization process.

On May 30, 2012, BOEM designated a Wind Energy Area (WEA), consisting of 132 OCS blocks and 19 sub-blocks, approximately 12 nm south of Martha's Vineyard and 13 nm southwest of Nantucket. BOEM received several comments as a result of the WEA designation, and decided to exclude certain areas identified as important habitats that could be adversely affected if ultimately developed with the installation of wind turbine generators. Specifically, BOEM excluded an area of high sea duck concentration, as well as an area of high value fisheries to reduce conflict with commercial and recreational fishing activities.  

On June 18, 2014, BOEM published a Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for an area located offshore Massachusetts.  On November 26, 2014, BOEM announced the publication of the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for a lease sale offshore Massachusetts and the availability of a revised EA for site assessment and site characterization activities in the area. The WEA was auctioned as four leases (OCS-A 0500, OCS-A 0501, OCS-A 0502, OCS-A 0503).  

On January 29, 2015, BOEM held a competitive lease sale pursuant to 30 C.F.R. § 585.211 for certain lease areas within the Massachusetts WEA. The auction lasted two rounds. RES America Developments, Inc. was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0500 and Offshore MW LLC was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0501.  Lease Areas OCS-A 0502 and OCS-A 0503 went unsold during the lease sale.  Lease Area OCS-A 0501 was subsequently segregated twice.

On April 11, 2018, BOEM published a Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for portions of the Massachusetts WEA that that were unsold on January 29, 2015 (Lease Areas OCS-A 0502 and OCS-A 0503).  On October 19, 2018, BOEM announced the publication of the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for a lease sale offshore Massachusetts.  The WEA was auctioned as three leases (OCS-A 0520, OCS-A 0521, OCS-A 0522).  

On December 13-14, 2018, BOEM held a competitive lease sale (i.e., auction) for Wind Energy Areas offshore Massachusetts. The auction lasted 32 rounds. Equinor Wind US, LLC was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0520, Mayflower Wind Energy, LLC was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0521, and Vineyard Wind, LLC was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0522.  

On May 15, 2024, the New England Wind project was segregated into two leases, New England Wind 1 (OCS-A 0534) and New England Wind 2 (OCS-A 0561). The northern portion of the original lease was retained by Park City Wind, LLC for the New England Wind 1 Project, formerly Phase 1, and retains the original lease number given by BOEM. The southern portion of the original lease was assigned to Commonwealth Wind, LLC.  and is now referred to as the New England Wind 2 project, formerly Phase 2.   

Environmental Studies

BOEM has funded or considered numerous studies to collect information about the marine environment to support decisions concerning offshore renewable energy development. For more information, please visit: http://www.boem.gov/Massachusetts-Environmental-Studies.

Visual Simulations

In response to stakeholder interest regarding visual impacts from potential future renewable energy development within the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Wind Energy Areas, BOEM undertook a project to develop daytime and nighttime photomontages and 24 hour day-through-night videos to simulate what turbines might look like if these six lease areas were fully developed.