First large-scale US offshore wind farm delayed further

The 800MW Vineyard Wind will not be operational in 2022, the developer of the first US large-scale offshore wind project in response to BOEM’s postponements in the permitting timeline.

According to the new timeline, the final permits for the project are expected to be issued by mid-march 2021.

BOEM was initially scheduled to release the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project in August 2019. In July, the agency announced that the final decision on the EIS will be postponed and in August 2019 asked for a supplemental EIS to be provided. The decision on the FEIS is now scheduled for mid-December 2020.

“We have received updated information from the Department of Interior that indicates the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Vineyard Wind I project will be published later than what was previously anticipated,” said Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind.

“While we need to analyze what a longer permitting timeline will mean for beginning construction, commercial operation in 2022 is no longer expected. We look forward to the clarity that will come with a final EIS so that Vineyard Wind can deliver this project to Massachusetts and kick off the new US offshore energy industry.”

Vineyard Wind planned to begin project construction in 2019 and have the wind farm operational by 2022.

The Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm will comprise 84 MHI Vestas 9.5MW wind turbines sited approximately 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 35 miles off the coast of the Massachusetts mainland.

Vineyard Wind LLC is a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables.