The scattering of electromagnetic wave by a periodic array of nanowires is calculated by the boundary element method. The method is extended to the infinite grating near the interface between two dielectrics. A special Green function is derived that allows to study the evanescent wave. The Rayleigh--- Woods anomalies are found in the period-to-wavelength dependence of the average Pointing vector in the wave zone. For thin wires the calculations are shown to agree with the two-dimensional coupled dipole approximation.