December 28, 2010
Massachusetts

More offshore wind farms in works for Vineyard, Nantucket

By Jay Fitzgerald, Boston Herald, www.bostonherald.com 28 December 2010

Residents of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket better get used to a lot of wind farms surrounding their resort islands.

Federal and state officials today announced the launch of a regulatory process that could see new wind farms in deep federal waters south of the two Bay State islands – in addition to the already announced Cape Wind and Deepwater Wind projects.

PDF: See the map of proposed wind farm lease area here.

In all, government officials are looking to lease federal waters for up to 4,000 megwatts of offshore wind, all about 14 miles or more south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

By comparison, the controversial Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound plans to build 130 turbines, with a maximum capacity of 460 megawatts.

“Let there be no question that Massachusetts is, and will be, the nation’s offshore wind leader – spurring technological innovation and technology to reduce costs and improve performance,” said Ian Bowles, Gov. Deval Patrick’s outgoing energy and environmental czar.

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement today issued a “request for interest” in the leasing of federal waters for offshore wind farms.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/12/28/more-offshore-wind-farms-in-works-for-vineyard-nantucket/