SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind)

Project Overview
Communication Plans
Site Assessment Plan
Construction and Operations Plan
Environmental Review

SouthCoast Map — Map of SouthCoast Wind OCS-A 0521 lease area

What's New?

On December 20, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced the approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project – the nation’s eleventh commercial-scale offshore wind energy project. The project could generate up to 2.4 GW of offshore wind energy for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, enough to power more than 840,000 homes. The project area covers approximately 127,388 acres and is about 26 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nm south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The following documents are available for your viewing.

SouthCoast Wind ROD
SouthCoast Wind Notice of Availability (Coming soon)

The project, as approved, includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables potentially making landfall in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts. Compared to SouthCoast’s original proposed project, the selected alternative removes up to six wind turbine positions in the northeastern portion of the Lease Area to reduce potential impacts on foraging habitat and potential displacement of wildlife from this habitat adjacent to Nantucket Shoals.

Please see the Environmental Review tab and Construction and Operations tab for additional information.

Background

On December 13-14, 2018, BOEM held a competitive lease sale offshore Massachusetts. Southcoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0521 (127,388 acres).

The SouthCoast Wind project is covered under FAST-41 and permitting progress can be found on the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) dashboard.

For more information on this lease area, including Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meetings and lease history please visit the Massachusetts Activities page. For more information on public meetings, please visit the Environmental Review tab. For up-to-date leasing information, including the original lease any lease amendments that may have occurred since initial lease execution, visit the Lease and Grants page. For more information on departure requests, visit the Departure Requests page.

Related Announcements

As required by the lease, SouthCoast Wind is required to develop a publicly available Fisheries Communications Plan.

The Fisheries Communications Plan describes the strategies that the lessee intends to use for communicating with commercial and recreational fisheries prior to and during activities in support of the submission of a plan, such as a Site Assessment Plan or Construction and Operations Plan.

The lessee's communication plan includes:

Information on the distribution of the “Notice to Mariners” and other outreach and coordination efforts.
SouthCoast Wind’s Fisheries Liaison’s contact information.
An outline of the process to file complaints with SouthCoast Wind and seek replacement of or compensation for lost gear.

On May 26, 2020, BOEM approved the Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for lease OCS-A 0521 submitted by SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind Energy LLC). The SAP approval allows for the deployment of one floating light detection and ranging (FLiDAR) buoy to assess meteorological and oceanographic conditions on lease area OCS-A 0521. For additional information, please find the approved SAP below:

SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) Construction and Operations Plan

SouthCoast Wind submitted its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) on February 15, 2021. Updated COP versions were submitted on August 30, 2021, October 28, 2021, March 16, 2022, December 22, 2022, September 19, 2023, July 31, 2024, and November 1, 2024. BOEM will review the COP and approve, disapprove, or approve with modifications to the proposed activities.

SouthCoast Wind intends to develop, build, and operate a commercial offshore wind energy facility capable of producing up to 2,400 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. The project is located within federal waters on the OCS, specifically in BOEM Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0521, approximately 23 miles offshore Massachusetts.

SouthCoast COP Volume I
SouthCoast COP Volume II
Appendix A - Agency Correspondence
Appendix B - Certified Verification Agent - Confidential
Appendix C - Conceptual Project Design Drawings
Appendix D1 - Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Act Consistency Certification
Appendix D2 - Rhode Island Coastal Zone Management Act Consistency Certification
Appendix E - Marine Site Investigation Report - Confidential
Appendix F1 - Sediment Plume Impacts from Construction Activities
Appendix F2 - Scour Potential Impacts from Operational Phase and Post-Construction Infrastructure
Appendix F3 - Brayton Point Export Cable Hydrodynamic and Sediment Dispersion Model Report
Appendix F4 - Nantucket Shoals Hydrodynamic Impacts Study
Appendix G - Air Emissions Report - Confidential
Appendix H - Water Quality Report
Appendix I1 - Avian Exposure Risk Assessment
Appendix I2 - Bat Risk Assessment
Appendix J - Terrestrial Vegetation and Wildlife Assessment Report
Appendix K - Seagrass and Macroalgae Report
Appendix L1 - Offshore Designated Protected Areas Report
Appendix L2 - Onshore Protected Lands Report
Appendix M - Benthic and Shellfish Resources Characterization Report
Appendix N - Essential Fish Habitat and Protected Fish Species Assessment
Appendix N1 - Essential Fish Habitat and Protected Fish Species Assessment - Addendum
Appendix O - Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Monitoring and Mitigation Plan
Appendix O.2 - North Atlantic Right Whale Monitoring and Mitigation Plan
Appendix P1 - Electric and Magnetic Field (EMF) Assessment for the Proposed Mayflower Wind Project
Appendix P2 - High Voltage Direct Current Electric and Magnetic Field (EMF) Assessment
Appendix Q - Marine Archaeological Resources Assessment
Appendix R1 - Falmouth Phase 1A Public Summary
Appendix R2 - Aquidneck Phase 1A 1B Public Summary
Appendix R3 - Brayton Point Phase 1A Public Summary
Appendix S - AVEHP Public Summary
Appendix S1 - AVEHP Brayton Point Public Summary
Appendix T - Visual Impact Assessment
Appendix T1 - Cape Cod Onshore Simulations
Appendix T2 - Martha's Vineyard Simulations
Appendix T3 - Nantucket Simulations
Appendix T.1 – Onshore Visual Impact Assessment – Brayton Point
Appendix U1 - In-Air Acoustic Assessment Report
Appendix U2 - Underwater Acoustic Modeling of Construction Sound and Animal Exposure Estimation
Appendix V - Commercial and Recreational Fisheries and Fishing Activity Technical Report - Confidential
Appendix W - Fisheries Communication Plan
Appendix X - Navigation Safety Risk Assessment
Appendix Y1 - Obstruction Evaluation & Airspace Analysis
Appendix Y2 - Air Traffic Flow Analysis
Appendix Y3 - Aircraft Detection Lighting System Efficacy Analysis
Appendix Y4 - Radar and Navigational Aid Screening Study
Appendix Z - Safety Management System - Confidential
Appendix AA - Oil Spill Response Plan (OSRP)
Appendix BB - Economic Development Report - Confidential

Joint Record of Decision

The following documents are available for your viewing.

SouthCoast Wind ROD
SouthCoast Wind Notice of Availability (Coming soon)

Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS)

On Nov. 8, 2024, BOEM announced the availability of its Final EIS for the proposed SouthCoast Wind project. On Nov. 15, 2024, BOEM will publish a notice of availability of the Final EIS.

On December 16, 2024, BOEM published an errata on its website that included corrections to the Executive Summary, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Appendix F, Appendix G, Appendix I, Appendix N, and Appendix O. None of these edits are substantive or affect the analysis or conclusions in the final EIS.

Errata for the SouthCoast Wind Final EIS

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS)

On Feb. 13, 2023, BOEM announced the availability of the Draft EIS for the proposed SouthCoast Wind project offshore Massachusetts. The Notice of Availability for the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 17, 2023. Public comments on the Draft EIS were received through April 18, 2023.

The following documents are available for your viewing.

Public Engagement on the Draft EIS

BOEM held three virtual public meetings on the following dates, with recordings available below:

More information is available in the SouthCoast Wind Virtual Meeting Room.

Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

BOEM published a NOI to prepare an EIS for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by SouthCoast Wind Energy LLC (formerly Mayflower Wind Energy LLC) the SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) Project in the Federal Register on Nov. 1, 2021.

Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS (BOEM 2021-0062)
2022 Final Scoping Report

The Notice of Intent initiated a 30-day public comment period that ended on Dec. 1, 2021.

SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind)

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