The long-stalled push to build massive wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean along the U.S. East Coast took a crucial step forward Tuesday as the Biden administration approved plans for a project off Martha’s Vineyard.
The $2.8 billion installation proposed by Vineyard Wind LLC will be the first major wind farm in waters off the U.S., which has lagged behind Europe and Asia in generating power at sea. It sets the stage for other developers seeking approval to build more than a dozen other wind projects from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
"The whole industry has been watching and waiting for this permit,” said Jonathan Cole, head of offshore wind for Iberdrola SA, the parent company of Avangrid Inc., which is jointly developing Vineyard Wind with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.