The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Thursday said it will start the environmental review of the Beacon Wind project offshore Massachusetts with an overall proposed capacity of at least 2,430 MW.
Beacon Wind LLC is a joint venture between Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) and BP Plc (LON:BP). It proposes to develop two wind farms in its lease area located 17 nautical miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and 52 nautical miles east of Montauk, New York, — Beacon Wind 1, with a capacity of 1,230 MW, which will deliver power to New York, and Beacon Wind 2 of more than 1,200 MW. Beacon Wind’s proposal calls for the installation of up to 155 turbines, up to two offshore substation platforms, and up to two offshore export cables, planned to land in Astoria, New York, and Waterford, Connecticut.
The Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Beacon Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) will be published this week, which will open a 30-day public comment period.
“As part of our environmental review process, we seek input from Tribes, our government partners, the fishing community, and other ocean users to inform our next steps,” said BOEM director Elizabeth Klein.
BOEM noted that this is the 11th offshore wind COP environmental review initiated under the Biden-Harris administration, which has set a goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. Since the start of the administration, the department has also approved the US’ first two commercial-scale offshore wind projects and held three offshore wind lease auctions.
