Vineyard Wind Starts Environmental Surveys

May 29, 2018

Vineyard Wind has started environmental surveys along proposed export cable corridors and in the Vineyard Wind lease area offshore Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The R/V Theory was scheduled to start the surveys on or around 26 May and remain on the project for the next 30 to 45 days.

The vessel will acquire sediment samples and underwater video imagery for mapping and assessing benthic habitats in Nantucket Sound and offshore south of the islands, a Notice to Mariners said.

Information gathered will be used to further design the wind farm and refine the location for the cable route from the wind farm to shore.

Vineyard Wind is proposing to build an 800MW offshore wind farm some 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard on a lease area covering some 160,000 acres. The developer plans to enter the construction phase in 2019.

The project has recently advanced as a preferred solution in the Massachusetts Green Communities Act Section 83C RFP for offshore wind energy projects.