Bay State Wind Revises Turbine Layout

Bay State Wind, an offshore wind joint venture between developer Ørsted and New England electric transmission company Eversource, announced a significant change to its proposed wind farm layout in response to feedback from fishermen and community members.

The revised turbine layout pattern accommodates historical fishing patterns and helps to provide greater ease of fishing within, and transiting through, the wind farm, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Bay State Wind said its engineering and layouts team incorporated as many suggestions as possible from fishermen and local stakeholders, while keeping in mind the need to balance safe navigation, fishing concerns and clean energy production.

The local fishing community indicated that the irregular pattern of the previous plan could make fishing in and transiting through the wind farm area difficult, especially in bad weather or while towing or setting gear.

The new plan realigns the wind turbine layout so that the turbines are located in rows running East-to West, the preferred orientation for fishing. The updated layout also includes an average of one nautical mile between turbine rows to create distinct fishing corridors while continuing to optimize wind utilization and energy production.

“We are committed to being strong partners with New England’s fishing industry and our neighbors in local communities,” said Thomas Brostrøm, President of Ørsted North America. “As we continue to design sustainable energy for the state, we have taken steps to make the layout of wind turbines more fishing friendly while maintaining energy optimization. We will continue to work with agencies, stakeholders, and other developers towards a clean energy future.”

“With local roots that go back more than 100 years, we’re proud to serve New England and understand the importance of the fishing industry to ports in the region,” said Mike Auseré, Vice President of Business Development at Eversource.

The partners will submit a construction and operations plan to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in early 2019, which will include the updated turbine layout.

First power is expected to be delivered from the wind farm in 2020.