A judge at the Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts has denied GE Vernova’s appeal in a case in which Vineyard Wind was recently granted a preliminary injunction that leaves the wind turbine OEM on the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project until its completion.
Earlier this year, Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), filed a motion for a preliminary injunction after receiving a contract termination notice from GE Vernova, arguing that the turbine supplier was attempting to exit the project at a critical stage.
On 17 April, the developer was granted the injunction, with the court accepting Vineyard Wind’s argument that allowing termination would cause “irreparable harm”, pointing to GE’s technical role, expertise, and proprietary technology that are part of the Vineyard Wind 1 project.
In its April ruling, the judge found that the project was “at a critical phase” and that GE’s termination would cause a setback and threaten Vineyard Wind’s financing, as the completion of the commissioning was dependent on GE Vernova’s technology and expertise.
In its appeal, GE argued that its exit would no longer cause “irreparable harm” to the project, as it had been completed and reached its commercial operation date (COD) on 24 April under its power purchase agreements (PPAs).
GE also noted that the Massachusetts Governor announced on 27 April that the state had activated the Vineyard Wind contracts, indicating the project’s completion.
The company also requested that the case be sent to arbitration, saying the announcement of Vineyard Wind 1 reaching the COD showed the offshore wind farm was now complete and its exit would not irreparably harm the project.
However, the judge found that the above does not mean the project no longer depended on GE to bring the project to full operational capacity.
The case was brought to court after GE Vernova issued a termination notice to Vineyard Wind under a clause allowing it to terminate the contract with the developer if “amounts due” were not paid within specified conditions, arguing that Vineyard Wind’s withholding of payments triggered that right.
According to the court documents, a project engineer appointed under the contract determined that GE owes Vineyard Wind more than USD 500 million (approximately EUR 425 million) in claims, which then led to Vineyard Wind withholding around USD 308 million (approx. EUR 264 million) in payments to GE based on those determinations.
The withheld payments are related to the project delay that was caused by defects in turbine blades manufactured and installed under GE’s responsibility, which were discovered after a blade failure in 2024.