Five Turbines Spin at America’s First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm

February 23, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Vineyard Wind 1, America’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, has begun delivering energy to the New England grid from five of its planned 62 GE Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines. The units are currently generating 68 MW of energy, enough to power 30,000 homes in Massachusetts, according to the developers of the project, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

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The wind turbine installation campaign for the 806 MW Vineyard Wind 1 began in September 2023. A month later, the first GE Haliade-X 13 MW unit was installed at the site some 15 miles (approximately 24 kilometres) off the coast of Massachusetts by DEME’s jack-up Sea Installer.

On 2 January, Vineyard Wind delivered approximately 5 MW of power from one turbine to the grid. Following that milestone, the project has provided power from each of the first five turbines intermittently, as it ramped up to initial operations, according to Avangrid.

The power from the project interconnects to the New England grid in Barnstable, transmitted by underground cables that connect to a substation further inland on Cape Cod.

“Across Massachusetts, in 30,000 homes and businesses, when you turn on the light, you will now be using clean, affordable energy. This will make the air we breathe safer and healthier, save customers money, and bring us one step closer to achieving net-zero emissions,” said Maura Healey, Governor of Massachusetts.

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Construction of the entire Vineyard Wind 1 project runs through the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

Currently, the project has installed nine wind turbines and is in the process of installing the 10th, with preparations underway to transport the 11th unit to the offshore project site, Avangrid said.

Additional power will be delivered to the grid sequentially, with each turbine starting production once it completes the commissioning process.

The Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm will consist of 62 GE Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines. Once completed, the project will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.