Contents
Wind Project Site
(login for email address)
Details
Description
SouthCoast Wind, formerly known as Mayflower Wind, is a large-scale offshore wind energy project that is being developed approximately 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 miles south of Nantucket. Originally launched as a joint venture between Shell New Energies and Ocean Winds, the project is now led by Ocean Winds. The project aims to deliver up to 2,400 MW, enough to power over one million homes across New England.
In 2025, Ocean Winds announced that SouthCoast Wind is facing construction delays of up to four years, pushing construction from 2025 to 2029 or 2030.
Location
The SouthCoast Wind lease area is located over 48 km south of Martha’s Vineyard, 32 km south of Nantucket, and over 96 km south of Rhode Island. The project will occupy the full 199-square mile (over 127,000 acre) lease area. Dual grid connection points are being pursued (1,200 MW to Brayton Point/Somerset and 1,200 MW to Falmouth) to maximize the potential of the offshore lease area’s generation capacity. There is 2.7 miles of submarine cable routing from the lease area to Brayton Point.
Project Timeline
- January 2025: Ocean Winds delayed construction until 2029 or 2030
- January 2025: BOEM approved SouthCoast Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan
- March 2024: Shell New Energies US LLC sold its 50% equity share in SouthCoast Wind to Ocean Winds
- December 2024: Department of the Interior announced the approval of SouthCoast Wind
- April 2023: BOEM announced comment period extension for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
- February 2023: BOEM Announced the Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
- May 2020: Site Assessment Plan approved
- December 2018: SouthCoast Wind (then Mayflower Wind) wins lease area OCS‑A 0521 in BOEM auction
Licensing Information
Ocean Winds is developing the SouthCoast Wind in federal waters leased from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Key federal agencies involved in the permitting and licensing process include BOEM, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others. The project required a number of approvals, notably the Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which underwent extensive environmental review culminating in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a Record of Decision (ROD) issued by BOEM in December 2024. Additionally, the project secured an Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Clean Air Act permit from the EPA in January 2025. The permitting and consenting process spanned nearly four years, beginning with the initial COP submission in early 2021 and concluding with final approvals in early 2025, encompassing stakeholder engagement, public comment periods, and multiple rounds of technical and environmental review.
View updates for SouthCoast Wind on the FAST41 Permitting Dashboard.
Key Environmental Issues
SouthCoast Wind faces several key environmental challenges due to its location in a biologically rich offshore area. One of the primary concerns is the potential impact on the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, whose migration routes pass through the project site. To mitigate risks, Ocean Winds plans to implement seasonal construction restrictions and vessel speed limits during periods when whales are likely to be present. The project also includes monitoring protocols for protected marine species and measures to minimize impacts on benthic habitats during submarine cable installation, such as pre- and post-construction seafloor surveys and the use of horizontal directional drilling at cable landfall locations to reduce coastal disturbance.
SouthCoast Wind is supporting research on fisheries in and around its lease area through several partnerships. The New England Aquarium (NEAq) Anderson Cabot Center of Ocean Life’s (ACC) Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies (FSET) program will monitor highly migratory fish species using acoustic tagging. The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) will conduct fisheries monitoring and impact assessment surveys. INSPIRE Environmental will develop and conduct a fisheries monitoring plan to establish baseline of fisheries resources and track impacts. SouthCoast Wind was a founding Board member of the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA) and is also working with Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) to share real-time wind and ocean current observations from the FLiDAR buoy in its lease area. SouthCoast also included an acoustic receiver on the buoy to identify tagged cod moving across the area to Cox's Ledge.