Massachusetts Awaits Major Offshore Wind Announcement

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will announce a major milestone for Massachusetts offshore wind energy today.

Joining them at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center wind testing facility will be Walter Cruickshank, Acting Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BEOM).

As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy sources and cut carbon pollution, Interior has been working with Atlantic state government task forces to spur renewable energy projects on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under an agreement with BOEM, identified and area for offshore wind development covering 826,241 acres approximately 12 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 13 nautical miles southwest of Nantucket.

The area contains 132 whole OCS lease blocks as well as 19 partial blocks.