A new offshore wind energy project that will bring up to 84 new wind turbines south of the Vineyard was approved by federal officials Tuesday and could be the largest in the country. 

The Department of Interior greenlighted Sunrise Wind, the seventh commercial-scale wind energy project now approved for the waters off the U.S. The project is about 16.4 nautical miles south of the Island, and is expected to produce a total as much as 924 megawatts of energy. 

Unlike Vineyard Wind, which connects to the Massachusetts grid on Cape Cod and is predicted to produce about 800 megawatts, Sunrise Wind will send its electricity to New York

The project was a joint effort between offshore wind developer Orsted and utility Eversource, though Orsted has agreed to buy out Eversource’s 50 per cent ownership. 

After the approval, Orsted touted that the project would help New York achieve its mandate of 70 per cent renewable energy by 2030. 

“New York is already home to the trailblazing South Fork Wind project, and with Sunrise Wind we will build on that foundation, broadening the economic benefits of offshore wind while delivering far more clean renewable power,” said David Hardy, the CEO of Ørsted’s Americas division.

During the environmental review process, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management found that the turbines from the project would be visible from Moshup Beach in Aquinnah, as well as the Aquinnah Overlook. The nearly 800-foot tall turbines are about 21 miles to the overlook’s south.

Aquinnah negotiated mitigation money due to the visual impacts of Sunrise Wind and Revolution Wind, another Orsted project in the 800,000-acre area off the Island designated for wind projects. 

Together the two projects have committed $825,000 total for repairs to the Gay Head Lighthouse. 

Offshore wind energy projects have faced headwinds in the global economy, with prices for building and energy contracts ballooning in the years after the pandemic. Orsted said Tuesday it secured investment for Sunrise Wind, solidifying its commitment to move forward with building the project.