Project

Offshore wind turbine

Vineyard Wind

Energy
At a Glance Client
Vineyard Wind

Project Size
800+ MW

Markets

Epsilon is leading the federal, state, regional, and local permitting for two pioneering offshore wind energy projects proposed by Vineyard Wind, LLC.

Overview

The Vineyard Wind 1 energy generation facility, a Joint Venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), is located on the outer continental shelf in federal waters designated as a wind energy area approximately 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 35 miles south of mainland Massachusetts.

Contribution

Epsilon led the federal, state, regional, and local permitting for the project, which will be the first utility-scale offshore wind project in the United States. The project was the first of the current generation of U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind projects to file its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Epsilon managed the preparation of the COP, which included a comprehensive assessment of impacts to air and water quality, geology, fisheries and benthic habitat, birds and other wildlife, marine mammals and sea turtles, coastal habitats, local economies and populations, visual resources, marine and air navigation, and historic and archaeological resources.

Epsilon also managed preparation of all state, regional, and local environmental review and permitting documents for Vineyard Wind Connector 1, the state-jurisdictional components of Vineyard Wind 1. This included a detailed routing analysis and alternatives assessment for Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) reviews. Epsilon completed all state, regional, and local permitting on an aggressive schedule over a period of approximately 18 months.

Achievement

Vineyard Wind 1 will deliver 800 MW of clean energy to the northeast beginning in 2025, enough electricity to power approximately 400,000 Massachusetts homes, reducing carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year.

In May 2021, Vineyard Wind 1 received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of the Interior BOEM, the final major step in the federal review process.

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