New England Wind 1 and 2

Wind Project Site

Title: New England Wind 1 and 2

Status:

Planned

Project Manager:

Avangrid Renewables, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP)

Website:

External Link

Construction Start:

January 1, 2026

Info Last Updated:

May 4, 2025

Contact:

Avangrid Corporate Communications
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Details

Technology:

Fixed Offshore Wind

Project Scale:

Commercial Farm

Hub Height:

214 m

Rotor Diameter:

285 m

Number of Turbines:

41-62

Installed Capacity:

804 MW

Support Structure:

Monopile

Inter-Array Cables:

66-132 kV

Export Cables:

AC, Buried Seafloor Cables

Export Cable Voltage:

220-275 kV

Number of Export Cables:

Cable Landfall:

Horizontal Directional Drill

Physical Site:

Shallow Water (<60m), Marine, Soft-Bottom Habitat

Water Depth:

43-62 m

Distance from Shore:

37 km

Country:

United States of America

Description

New England Wind 1, formerly known as Park City Wind, together with New England Wind 2, formerly known as Commonwealth Wind, will form part of a 1,870 MW wind farm complex. New England Wind 1 will have an installed capacity of 791 MW. On May 15, 2024, the New England Wind project was segregated into two leases, New England Wind 1 (OCS-A 0534) and New England Wind 2 (OCS-A 0561).

Location

New England Wind 1 will be located ~30 miles south of Barnstable, Massachusetts. It will export power via two export cables which will make landfall in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. The project includes the construction of a new port in Salem and a new offshore wind manufacturing plant in New Bedford.

Licensing Information

2022, December: Section 404/10 Application with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Completed
2022, December: Complete Individual Permit Application Submitted with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
2022, October: OCS Air Permit NOI submitted with USEPA
2022, August: Individual Permit Application/ENG Form 4345/Joint Application Form Submitted
2022, July: ITA Permit Application with NMFS deemed complete
2022, May: Chapter 91 Waterways License and Dredge Permit / Water Quality Certification (Section 401 of the CWA) Application Filed with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
2022, April: Conservation and Management Permit (Massachusetts ESA Determination) Issued with National Heritage and Endangered Species Program
2022, January: Final Environmental Impact Report pursuant of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA)
2021, February: Special Use Permit 17-003 Renewal Application Permit with Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources Approved
2020, May: General Law Ch. 164, § 72, Approval to Construct General Law Ch. 40A, § 3 Zoning Exemption Petitions Filed with Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
2020, May: General Law Ch. 164, § 69 Approval Petition Filed with Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board
2017, December: Interconnection Authorization Request Submitted with ISO New England

More information can be found on New England Wind 1 Permitting & Documents page, New England Wind 2 Permitting & Documents page, and the New England Wind’s United States Federal Permitting Dashboard.

Project Timeline

2024, July: Construction and Operations Plan (COP) approved
2024, April: Record of Decisions (ROD) received
2024, February: Final Environmental Impact Statement
2022, December: Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) published by BOEM
2022, December: NMFS ESA Consultation Anticipated
2022, September: NMFS ESA and EFH Consultation Packages Submitted
2022, June: Development of Regional Impact Review Applications Filed with Cape Cod Commission (Barnstable County) and Martha’s Vineyard Commission
2022, April: Addendum to Construction and Operations Plan (COP) Filed
2021, December: Revised Construction and Operations Plan (COP) Filed
2021, June: Revised Construction and Operations Plan (COP) Filed
2021, June: NEPA Environmental Review Initiated
2020, July: Construction and Operations Plan (COP) Filed
2018, May: Offtake Conditionally Secured
2017, March: Site Assessment Plan (SAP) Submitted
2015, January: Site Exclusivity Obtained

Key Environmental Issues

Extensive environmental surveys have been conducted up and down the East Coast. All ecological aspects of the wind farm have been investigated and the results of those studies will be included in permit applications. Measures will be taken to minimize the ecological impact of the wind farm.

Metadata Documents

New England Wind Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) (BOEM Office of Renewable Energy Programs 2022)
New England Wind (OCS-A 0534) Construction and Operations Plan (Epsilon Associates Inc. 2022)

Phase	Stressor & Receptor	Design and Methods	Results	Publications	Data
Baseline	Fish	Video Surveys and Simulations Seasonal video and trawl surveys were conducted in the New England Wind project area in 2020 and 2021. Simulations of typical and maximum impact cable installation methods in the project area were utilized.	Complete Overall, impacts to essential fish habitat (EFH) in the project development area are anticipated to be short-term and localized during construction and installation of New England Wind. Temporary noise from pile driving could potentially impact all species with EFH during construction. The use of a soft start during pile driving will give fish in the area time to avoid the noise source before full impact strikes are made. Sound reduction technologies will be used to minimize impacts.	Epsilon Associates Inc. 2022	No data publicly available
Baseline	Invertebrates	Grab Sampling and Analysis and Underwater Video Benthic grab samples were collected within the New England Wind project area on from 2016, 2017, and 2020. Sample analysis (and quality control) were conducted. Underwater video surveys were conducted in 2018. Grab sampling and video surveying methods were implemented in the 2019 survey.	Complete In 2016, the benthic community consisted of polychaete worms, bivalve mollusks, nematode roundworms, nemertean ribbon worms, common sand dollars, and crustaceans including amphipods, cumaceans, ostracods, and isopods. In 2017, the most abundant taxon was Nematoda, followed by Caprellidae, Tellinidae, and Oligochaetes. The 2018 survey found the more complex and species rich habitats tend to be found within the higher currents of Muskeget Channel. In 2019, sampling locations consisted of muddy sand, sand, or sandy mud. Infaunal structures, burrows, macrofauna, and shells made up most of the remaining surface area. Sea stars were the dominant benthic macrofauna. Infauna was dominated by the Arthropoda phylum followed by the Annelida phylum.	Epsilon Associates Inc. 2021	No data publicly available
Baseline	Fish, Marine Mammals, Reptiles	Acoustic Assessment and Analysis To estimate potential effects to marine fauna from anthropogenic sound generated during New England Wind pile installation, the following modeling steps were used: 1. Modeled the spectral and temporal characteristics of the sound output from the proposed pile driving activities using the industry; 2. Acoustic propagation modeling that combined the outputs of the source model with the spatial and temporal environmental context to estimate sound fields; 3. Animal movement modeling integrated the computed sound fields with species-typical behavioral parameters to estimate received sound levels for the modeled animals that may occur in the operational area; 4. Estimated the number of potential injurious and behavioral level exposures based on pre-defined acoustic thresholds/criteria.	Complete The endangered North Atlantic right whale is predicted to experience fewer than four injurious exposures during the combined installation of Phases 1 and 2 of the New England Wind project. Fewer than one sea turtle is predicted to be exposed to sound levels exceeding injury threshold. Acoustic results indicate that ranges to potential injury for fish with swim bladders not involved in hearing are small.	Epsilon Associates Inc. 2022	No data publicly available
Operations	Displacement Birds	Bird Protection Plan Piping Plover protection plan that addresses measures to protect state-listed species and their habitats during the nesting season (April 1 – August 31) and a contingency plan in the event problems arise during the HDD cable installation. Monitoring intensity will increase with increasing proximity of nests and/or chicks relative to the work zone, and will also increase with increasing frequency of chick observations.	Planned Results pending	Epsilon Associates Inc. 2022	No data publicly available
Operations	Habitat Change Physical Environment	Benthic Monitoring Plan Six habitat zones in the New England Wind project area will contain two randomly placed benthic monitoring sites. At each site, video and multibeam echo sounder surveys will be performed, with the long axis oriented perpendicular to the easternmost export cable and the short axis oriented parallel to the cable alignment. Four grab stations will be sampled along a gradient extending east from the impact area. Stations will be positioned within the impact area immediately adjacent to the impact source. Three control stations will be located an additional approximately 0.6 miles (1 km) to the east in an area with similar physical and environmental characteristics. At each control station, three replicate grabs and 330 feet (100 m) of underwater video will be collected.	Planned Results pending	Epsilon Associates Inc. 2022	No data publicly available