SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind)

SouthCoast Map
Map of SouthCoast Wind OCS-A 0521 lease area

What's New?

On January 17, 2025, BOEM announced the approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project Construction and Operations Plan (COP), as modified by the selected alternative in the Record of Decision. The project has the potential to generate up to 2,400 megawatts of clean, renewable energy for New England and power over 840,000 homes. The project area covers approximately 127,388 acres and is about 26 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nm south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The approved COP includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables located in up to two corridors, potentially making landfall in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Please see the Construction and Operations Plan tab for additional information. 

Background

On December 13-14, 2018, BOEM held a competitive lease sale offshore Massachusetts. Southcoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0521 (127,388 acres).

The SouthCoast Wind project is covered under FAST-41 and permitting progress can be found on the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) dashboard.

For more information on this lease area, including Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meetings and lease history please visit the Massachusetts Activities page.  For more information on public meetings, please visit the Environmental Review tab. For up-to-date leasing information, including the original lease any lease amendments that may have occurred since initial lease execution, visit the Lease and Grants page. For more information on departure requests, visit the Departure Requests page.  

Record of Decision

On December 20, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced the approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project – the nation’s eleventh commercial-scale offshore wind energy project. The project could generate up to 2.4 GW of offshore wind energy for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, enough to power more than 840,000 homes. The project area covers approximately 127,388 acres and is about 26 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nm south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.  

The following documents are available for your viewing.

The project, as approved, includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables potentially making landfall in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts. Compared to SouthCoast’s original proposed project, the selected alternative removes up to six wind turbine positions in the northeastern portion of the Lease Area to reduce potential impacts on foraging habitat and potential displacement of wildlife from this habitat adjacent to Nantucket Shoals. 

On December 16, 2024, BOEM published an errata on its website that included corrections to the Executive Summary, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Appendix F, Appendix G, Appendix I, Appendix N, and Appendix O. None of these edits are substantive or affect the analysis or conclusions in the final EIS. 

Please see the Environmental Review tab and Construction and Operations tab for additional information.

Related Announcements

As required by the lease, SouthCoast Wind is required to develop a publicly available Fisheries Communications Plan.  

The Fisheries Communications Plan describes the strategies that the lessee intends to use for communicating with commercial and recreational fisheries prior to and during activities in support of the submission of a plan, such as a Site Assessment Plan or Construction and Operations Plan.  

The lessee's communication plan includes:

  • Information on the distribution of the “Notice to Mariners” and other outreach and coordination efforts.  
  • SouthCoast Wind’s Fisheries Liaison’s contact information.  
  • An outline of the process to file complaints with SouthCoast Wind and seek replacement of or compensation for lost gear. 

On May 26, 2020, BOEM approved the Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for lease OCS-A 0521 submitted by SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind Energy LLC). The SAP approval allows for the deployment of one floating light detection and ranging (FLiDAR) buoy to assess meteorological and oceanographic conditions on lease area OCS-A 0521. For additional information, please find the approved SAP below:

SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) Construction and Operations Plan

On January 17, 2025, BOEM announced the approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project Construction and Operations Plan (COP), as modified by the selected alternative in the Record of Decision. 

SouthCoast Wind initially submitted a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for Lease OCS-A 0521 on February 15, 2021. On July 31, 2024, SouthCoast Wind submitted an updated COP; this version informed the basis for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  An updated COP with minor administrative revisions was submitted on November 1, 2024.  Please see the Environmental Review tab for more information on the Final EIS and the ROD. 

The project could have a total capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy for New England and power over 840,000 homes. The project is located within federal waters, specifically in BOEM Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0521, approximately 26 nautical miles (nm) south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nm south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The approved COP includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables located in up to two corridors, potentially making landfall in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Joint Record of Decision 

The following documents are available for your viewing.

On December 16, 2024, BOEM published an errata on its website that included corrections to the Executive Summary, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Appendix F, Appendix G, Appendix I, Appendix N, and Appendix O. None of these edits are substantive or affect the analysis or conclusions in the final EIS. 

Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS)

On Nov. 8, 2024, BOEM announced the availability of its Final EIS for the proposed SouthCoast Wind project. On Nov. 15, 2024, BOEM will publish a notice of availability of the Final EIS.

On December 16, 2024, BOEM published an errata on its website that included corrections to the Executive Summary, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Appendix F, Appendix G, Appendix I, Appendix N, and Appendix O. None of these edits are substantive or affect the analysis or conclusions in the final EIS. 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS)

On Feb. 13, 2023, BOEM announced the availability of the Draft EIS for the proposed SouthCoast Wind project offshore Massachusetts. The Notice of Availability for the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 17, 2023. Public comments on the Draft EIS were received through April 18, 2023. 

The following documents are available for your viewing.

Public Engagement on the Draft EIS 

BOEM held three virtual public meetings on the following dates, with recordings available below:

More information is available in the SouthCoast Wind Virtual Meeting Room.

Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

BOEM published a NOI to prepare an EIS for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by SouthCoast Wind Energy LLC (formerly Mayflower Wind Energy LLC) the SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) Project in the Federal Register on Nov. 1, 2021.  

The Notice of Intent initiated a 30-day public comment period that ended on Dec. 1, 2021.