New England Wind 1 and 2

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Lease areas OCS-A 0534 and OCS-A 0534 0561

What's New?

Construction and Operations Plan Approval

On July 1, 2024, BOEM announced its approval of the New England Wind Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction and operation of two wind energy projects. Together, these projects would have a total capacity of up to 2,600 megawatts of clean, renewable energy that BOEM estimates could power more than 900,000 homes each year. The projects are situated approximately 20 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and about 24 nm southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The COP includes up to 129 wind turbine generators, with up to five offshore export cables transmitting electricity to onshore transmission systems in the Town of Barnstable and Bristol County, Massachusetts.

Please see the Construction and Operations Plan tab for more information.  

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. 

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.

Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

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.

Through a competitive leasing process (30 CFR 585.211), BOEM awarded Lease OCS-A 0501 to Vineyard Wind, LLC on April 1, 2015.

On June 28, 2021, BOEM approved a partial assignment of the northernmost 65,296 acres of Lease OCS-A 0501 from Vineyard Wind, LLC to Vineyard Wind 1, LLC. The assigned lease under Vineyard Wind 1, LLC continues to be designated Lease OCS-A 0501. Vineyard Wind, LLC retained the remaining 101,590 acres, which are designated Lease OCS-A 0534 for this New England Wind Project, formerly known as Vineyard Wind South. Except for the description of the leased area, which now reflects the two different lease areas, the terms, conditions, and stipulations of the two leases, including the lease effective date of April 1, 2015, remain the same.

On December 14, 2021, BOEM approved the assignment of Lease OCS-A 0534 from Vineyard Wind, LLC to Park City Wind LLC. Park City Wind LLC has the exclusive right to submit a COP for activities within Lease OCS-A 0534. The majority of the New England Wind project is proposed within Lease OCS-A 0534, with a small portion of the area within Lease OCS-A 0501 also identified for potential development; however, any development of the area within Lease OCS-A 0501 would require an additional (future) lease assignment.

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Lease areas OCS-A 0534 and OCS-A 0534 0561

On March 19, 2024: BOEM received an application from Park City Wind, LLC for a partial assignment of lease OCS-A 0534 to Commonwealth Wind, LLC.  

On May 15, 2024: The partial assignment consists of the southern portion of lease OCS-A 0534, now referred to as New England Wind 2 project, formerly Phase 2, and was given a new lease number, OCA- 0561. The northern portion of the 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. 

On July 1, 2024, BOEM granted the easements associated with Lease OCS-A 0534 and OCS-A 0561. In association with the granting of the easements, Addendum A and Addendum D for the leases were revised.

 

 

 

 

 

On May 10, 2018, BOEM approved the Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for Lease OCS-A 0501 submitted by Vineyard Wind, LLC (which at that time encompassed what is now Lease OCS-A-0534 – see “Leasing History” tab for more information). The SAP approval allows for the installation of up to two Fugro SEAWATCH Wind LiDAR metocean buoys.  For additional information, please find the approved SAP below: 

 

A phased development Construction and Operations Plan (COP) was submitted to BOEM on July 2, 2020, proposing the construction and installation, operations and maintenance, and conceptual decommissioning of the following offshore wind energy facilities (includes Phases 1 & 2):

  • Up to 130 wind turbine generators (WTG) and electrical service platform (ESP) positions
  • 1 to 5 offshore ESPs
  • Inter-array and inter-link cables
  • Up to 3 onshore substations
  • Up to 5 transmission cables.

New England Wind has also provided two COP updates:

  • Fall 2021:
  • Spring 2022
    • eliminated the maximum capacity in megawatts (MW) per WTG for both phases because technologies continue to advance with many variations on how power capacity is defined and delivered; and
    • for Phase 1, increased the maximum WTG and ESP size parameters, which in turn has implications for the minimum/maximum number of WTGs and total area footprints of Phases 1 and 2 (there were no modifications to the proposed Phase 1 foundation parameters).

The Spring 2022 COP updates (eliminating the maximum capacity in MW per WTG for both phases, and the increase in Phase 1 WTG and ESP size parameters) are summarized in Tables 1-3:

Table 1: Modifications to Phase 1 WTG Parameters*

Parameter

Maximum COP Envelope

Modification

Change from Maximum Envelope

Capacity (per turbine)

16 MW

N/A

N/A

Rotor Diameter

255 m (837 ft)

285 m (937 ft)

+30 m (98 ft)

Tip Height above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW)

319 m (1,047 ft)

357 m (1,171 ft)

+38 m (125 ft)

Tip Clearance above MLLW

27 m (89 ft)

27 m (89 ft)

0

Hub Height above MLLW

192 m (630 ft)

214 m (702 ft)

+22 m (72 ft)

*All parameters are maximum values except for Tip Clearance, which is a minimum clearance

Table 2: Modifications to the Phase 1 ESP Topside Parameters

Parameter

Maximum COP Envelope

Modification

Change from Maximum Envelope

Maximum Width

45 m (148 ft)

60 m (197 ft)

+15 m (49 ft)

Maximum Length

70 m (230 ft)

100 m (328 ft)

+30 m (98 ft)

Maximum Height

38 m (125 ft)

38 m (125 ft)

0

Maximum Heights above Tip Height above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW)

70 m (230 ft)

70m (230 ft)

0

Table 3: Area Adjustments for Phases 1 and 2

Phase 1

COP Envelope

Adjustment

Number of WTGs

50-62

41-62

Area

182-231 km2

150-231 km2

Phase 2

COP Envelope

Adjustment

Number of WTGs

Up to 79

Up to 88

Area

222-271 km2

222-303 km2

In August 2023, an updated COP was submitted. The August 2023 version of the COP informs the basis for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that was published on Feb. 26, 2024.

On Feb. 28, 2024, an updated COP was submitted which consisted of minor administrative updates.

The visual impact assessment includes photo simulations from numerous Key Observation Points (KOPs) and provides a detailed analysis of the potential visibility of the proposed Project and differences in landscape visual quality with and without the Project in place.

Photo simulations of the proposed New England Wind Project from all KOPs may be viewed or downloaded in the following:

Cumulative Effects Simulations may be viewed or downloaded from the DEIS Appendix I - Attachment 1 Cumulative Photo simulations by KOP (see figure 3 cumulative effects simulation Key Observation Points)

Figure 1 KOP Map NE Wind COP App III-H.a VIA
Figure 1: Key Observation Points with visual simulations in the New England Wind
Figure 2 KOP Map Onshore Facilities NE Wind COP App III-H.a VIA
Figure 2: Key Observation Points for Onshore Facility visual simulations in the New England Wind
NE Wind Cumulative Sim KOP Map
Figure 3: Cumulative effects simulation Key Observation Points

 

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

On June 30, 2021, BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Vineyard Wind South Project offshore Massachusetts. The NOI initiated a 30-day public comment period, ending on July 30, 2021. 

BOEM received an updated COP in Fall 2021 to incorporate additional cable routing variants for the Phase 2 offshore export cables. BOEM issued a Notice of Additional Public Scoping and Name Change in the Federal Register, opening a second public comment period on November 22, 2021. The 30-day public comment period ended on December 22, 2021.  

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)  

On Dec. 23, 2022, BOEM announced the availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed New England Wind Project offshore Massachusetts. The Notice of Availability and DEIS can be accessed using the links below.  

BOEM held three public meetings to hear comment on the DEIS. Please see this link for more information: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-virtual-meeting-room 

Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

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.

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.

Construction and Operations Plan Approval 

On July 1, 2024, BOEM announced its approval of the New England Wind Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction and operation of two wind energy projects. Together, these projects would have a total capacity of up to 2,600 megawatts of clean, renewable energy that BOEM estimates could power more than 900,000 homes each year. The projects are situated approximately 20 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and about 24 nm southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The COP includes up to 129 wind turbine generators, with up to five offshore export cables transmitting electricity to onshore transmission systems in the Town of Barnstable and Bristol County, Massachusetts.

Please see the Construction and Operations Plan tab for more information.