Wind farm power won’t run through Westport — for now

Vineyard Offshore proposes landfall in Connecticut, not Westport

By Ted Hayes
Posted 4/19/24

Officials with an offshore wind concern who hope to develop a large wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard do not plan to run their supply lines through Westport, at least for now.

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Wind farm power won’t run through Westport — for now

Vineyard Offshore proposes landfall in Connecticut, not Westport

Posted

Officials with an offshore wind concern who hope to develop a large wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard do not plan to run their supply lines through Westport, at least for now.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, through its development company Vineyard Offshore, and partner Avangrid, recently informed Westport officials that they propose running the 1,200 megawatts of power generated by their Vineyard Win II project to eastern Connecticut, where it will interconnect with the grid.

Westport Town Administrator James Hartnett, who met with project officials late last year, informed the select board recently that while there is currently no plan to make landfall at Horseneck Beach and run lines up Route 88, “they did leave the option open for future projects.”

The possible Westport landfall got some attention last year, after Avangrid officials met with Hartnett and officials from the Westport River Watershed Alliance to talk about their project. Hartnett said at the time that the meeting was mostly an introduction and there was no talk of an interconnection here.

In a letter to the Shorelines last November, fish commissioner Everett Mills expressed concern that running lines through Westport would cause serious environmental damage and impact fish migration.

“Will cabling brought across the Westport River prohibit or alter fish migration between the two branches?” he asked. “This is not something to proceed with, and then study the effects afterwards. The possible consequences for our river and its inhabitants are too important.”

Vineyard Offshore’s current plan is to develop Vineyard Wind II, a 1,200 megawatt farm off the coast that would serve Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It would become operational in 2031 and would make landfall in New London, Ct., connecting to the New England power grid in Montville, Ct.

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