Feds approve offshore wind farm south of Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard

By STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press

A planned offshore wind farm moved a step closer to construction Tuesday with the Department of the Interior announcing it has approved the project. Revolution Wind will be located in federal waters near Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. It will have an estimated capacity of more than 700 megawatts of renewable energy, capable of powering nearly 250,000 homes. The department approved a plan for fewer turbines than originally proposed by the developer to help protect visual resources and ocean floor habitat. The project is expected to create about 1,200 jobs during construction. It’s the department’s fourth approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project and will join projects off Massachusetts and New Jersey.