Feds recommend fewer turbines for Sunrise Wind - Martha's Vineyard Times
Feds recommend fewer turbines for Sunrise Wind - The Martha's Vineyard Times
Federal officials are recommending a smaller amount of wind turbines for a major offshore wind farm planned for waters about 16 nautical miles south of the Island.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced in a press release today that it completed the environmental review of the proposed offshore wind project. Instead of the 94 turbines originally proposed, BOEM is recommending 84 turbines to prevent habitat loss for some species.
“We carefully considered input from our government partners, key stakeholders and the public for the final environmental impact statement for Sunrise Wind,” BOEM director Elizabeth Klein said in the release. “This document represents a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the project and is another milestone in achieving President [Joe] Biden’s ambitious clean-energy goals.”
The Biden-Harris administration has a goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.
After receiving comments from various stakeholders over Sunrise, BOEM developed a “preferred alternative,” Monday’s release states. The alternative reduces the number of turbines to “accommodate geotechnical feasibility of the project, reduce impacts to benthic habitat and Atlantic cod, and meet the energy needs of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.”
Sunrise Wind was also one of several offshore wind projects negotiating compensation with Aquinnah for the impact the turbines are expected to have on the community. One of the possibilities was potential maintenance funding from Sunrise Wind for the Aquinnah shops.
Sunrise Wind is planned for a lease area around 86,823 acres, with onshore connections in Holbrook, New York. It was originally expected to produce approximately 924 megawatt of power and power more than 320,000 homes.
The 741-page environmental impact statement and its appendices are available on the BOEM website, alongside other pieces of information regarding Sunrise Wind, at https://bit.ly/46V7I42.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.