More than 742,000 acres off the shore of Massachusetts are being opened up for commercial wind energy leasing, state and federal officials announced on Tuesday.

The proposed area, located 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, is the largest in federal waters and will nearly double the federal offshore acreage available for commercial-scale wind energy projects.

The announcement was made at the Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC). Owned and operated by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the WTTC tests manufacturers’ wind turbine blades to see how they will perform in the field and is the largest wind blade testing facility in North America.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proposes to auction the wind energy area as four leases. 

To date, BOEM has awarded five commercial wind energy leases off the Atlantic coast: two non-competitive leases (Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound, off Massachusetts, and an area off Delaware) and three competitive leases (two offshore Massachusetts-Rhode Island and another offshore Virginia). Competitive lease sales have generated about $5.4 million in high bids for about 277,550 acres in federal waters.

BOEM is expected to hold additional competitive auctions for Wind Energy Areas offshore Maryland and New Jersey later this year.