Beacon Wind

Other Agencies with Actions or Authorizations:

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers - Regulatory

Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers - Civil Works

Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

Description:

Beacon Wind proposes to construct and operate the Project located in the Lease Area, which covers approximately 128,811 acres (ac); (52,128 hectares [ha]) and is located approximately 20 statute miles (mi) (17 nautical miles [nm], 32 kilometers [km]) south of Nantucket, Massachusetts and 60 mi (52 nm, 97 km) east of Montauk, New York.

Beacon Wind proposes to develop the entire Lease Area in two wind farms, known as Beacon Wind 1 (BW1) and Beacon Wind 2 (BW2) (collectively referred to hereafter as the Project). The first phase, BW1, is located in the northern approximately 56,530 ac (22,877 ha) of the Lease Area and the second phase, BW2, is located in the southern approximately 51,610 ac (20,886 ha) of the Lease Area, with a 20,665 ac (8,362 ha) Overlap Area that could be included in either BW1 or BW2. Each wind farm will gather the power from the associated turbines to a central offshore substation (two total) and deliver the generated power via an associated submarine export cable to an onshore substation for final delivery into the local utility distribution system at the selected Point of Interconnection (POI).

Offshore components of the Project will consist of up to 155 wind turbines and up to two offshore substation facilities for a total of up to 157 foundations. In addition, there will be up to 324 nm (600 km) of interarray cable, all of which will be located in federal waters. Within the Lease Area, BW1 will include between 61 and 94 wind turbines and BW2 will include between 61 and 94 wind turbines. The Overlap Area includes 33 wind turbines that could be incorporated into either BW1 or BW2.

BW1 will include up to 202 nm (375 km) of high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) submarine export cable, of which 87 nm (162 km) is in federal waters and 115 nm (213 km) is in state waters. Onshore components of BW1 will include export cable landfall areas, HVDC onshore cables, HVDC converter stations, high- voltage alternating-current (HVAC) interconnection cables, and onshore substation facilities in New York. The export cable route and landfall for BW2 will be determined and evaluated at a future date based on a successful power purchase agreement.