June 22, 2018 — With the largest purchase of offshore wind resources in the country on their doorstep, state officials say they want more information to provide proper environmental oversight.
Last Friday a certificate was issued for Vineyard Wind’s April 30 draft environmental impact report, but because the company has now moved ahead to negotiate an 800-megawatt contract with three electric utilities companies, a more comprehensive report is needed, according to Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton.
Massachusetts has an “interest in and obligation to provide a rigorous, robust and transparent environmental review process for the largest single procurement of offshore wind by any state in the nation,” Beaton wrote in the certificate.
The company, an equal partnership of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, plans what is expected to be a $2 billion construction project to install 50 to 100 wind turbines in federal leased waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, with three energy export cables to make landfall on Cape Cod.
The sale of offshore wind power from the wind farm to the electric utilities on the mainland is part of a larger initiative by state leaders to reach a capacity of 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2027.
As part of the typical review under the state’s environmental policy act, a draft and then a final environmental impact report are explanations by an owner of its project and alternatives to fully adhere to state and local environmental regulations. The state certificates issued on the reports, in turn, are guidance, describing what the company intends and what still needs to be addressed, strengthened or emphasized to ultimately avoid, minimize or mitigate damage to the environment.
In declaring the Vineyard Wind’s 1,380-page draft environmental impact report “inadequate,” Beaton said in Friday’s certificate that he is taking into account the company’s May 23 selection as the offshore wind competitor to move forward with contract negotiations with the utilities. Given the evolving circumstances, Beaton said he is asking for a supplemental draft environmental impact report from Vineyard Wind.