The permit process remains on track for the 800MW Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm off the US east coast, according to the chief executive of one of the project’s joint venture partners.
Avangrid CEO Jim Torgerson (pictured) told an earnings call on 29 April that the process is on schedule, with no changes to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) permitting timeline.
A draft supplement to the environmental impact assessment is expected to be completed by 12 June and final approval by 13 November, with the record of decision and approval targeted for 18 December, he said.
Torgerson said the company, which is developing Vineyard Wind as a JV with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, believes the project can be delivered in 2023 but this could slip to 2024, because of uncertainties over Covid-19.
“But right now, we’re not seeing a whole lot of delays,” he added.
Avangrid Renewables CEO Alejandro De Hoz added that even if the project does not get built until 2024, the wind farm would still qualify for an 18% tax credit.
Torgerson said that Vineyard Wind’s 804MW Park City Wind offshore wind project has submitted the initial environmental and fisheries mitigation plan to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Execution of a power purchase agreement is expected in early May.
Work is also progressing with the up to 2.5GW Kitty Hawk offshore wind development off North Carolina.
The site assessment plan was approved by BOEM in late February and work is underway preparing the deployment of instrumentation to commence wind, wave and tidal monitoring programmes, said Torgerson.
He added that Avangrid is “actively monitoring and addressing Covid-19 impacts and are implementing plans to address such impacts on our business”.