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Cape Wind
Project Overview
The Bureau received a request from
Cape Wind Associates, LLC (CWA) for a lease, easement or
right-of-way to construct and operate an offshore wind facility located in
Federal waters 4.7 miles offshore Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Horseshoe
Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Landfall for the transmission cable would be in
Yarmouth.
The project
consists of 130, 3.6 megawatt wind turbine generators
covering approximately 25 square miles in federal waters offshore Massachusetts with the
maximum
capacity to produce about 468 megawatts. The average
expected production from the wind facility could provide about 75
percent of the electricity demand
for Cape Cod and the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. At average
expected production, Cape Wind could produce enough energy to power more
than 200,000 homes in Massachusetts.
Construction and Operations Plan
The
Construction and Operations Plan (COP) was submitted by CWA
in October 2010 (and updated in February 2011 and April
2011). The COP is available for download below:
As one large file:
Cape Wind COP
Or as nine smaller files:
To determine whether a supplemental environmental impact
statement (EIS) was necessary before the Bureau came to a
decision on CWA’s COP, the Bureau prepared an environmental
assessment (EA). On February 22, 2011, public input was
requested to inform the decisionmaking process by suggesting
new issues or contributing information with regard to
potential environmental effects. The comment period closed
on March 9, 2011. Further details are available in this
Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Assessment.
Approximately 160 comments were received and are available
here.
On April 18, 2011, BOEMRE issued an
Environmental
Assessment and a Finding of No New Significant Impact,
and a
Record
of Decision containing additional
terms and conditions of the approval to be incorporated into
the COP.
Background The Cape Wind Energy Project was proposed by
Cape Wind in November 2001. Prior to the Bureau’s involvement, the United States
Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) assumed the lead federal regulatory
role under the River and Harbors Act, and issued a draft Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) in November 2004. Following the Energy Policy Act of
2005, the Bureau assumed lead federal responsibility and initiated its own
independent environmental review pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA).The
Bureau published the Cape Wind draft EIS in January 2008 and the final EIS on January 2009. On April 28, 2010, Department of Interior Secretary Salazar announced the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Cape Wind Project. The ROD documented the bureau’s decision to select the Preferred Alternative at Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound described in the final EIS.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Cape Wind Associates President Jim Gordon signed the nation’s first lease for commercial wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) on October 6, 2010. The project area offered in the lease is comprised of approximately 46 square miles on the OCS in Nantucket Sound offshore Massachusetts. The 33-year lease for the area off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. will cost the company $88,278 in annual rent prior to production, and a 2 to 7 percent operating fee during production. The fee is based on an estimate of what the project’s output would sell for in regional markets.
Federal
Register Notices
Note: Federal Register notices are
all in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF).
NEPA Documentation
Note: NEPA documentations are in Portable Document Format
(PDF).
Additional Information
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Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc.
("PAL") conducted an assessment of the visual effects to
nearby historic properties from the proposed Cape Wind
Energy project at Horseshoe Shoals. The "Visual Impacts
Assessment" or "VIA" identified a number of historic
properties on Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
that fall within the area of potential effect for visual
effects and assesses the effect on these historic
properties. The VIA is referenced in the Revised
Findings of Adverse Effect document. The two reports can
be found here: