Vineyard Wind 1

Location and Overview

• The Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm is located approximately 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 34 miles south of the Cape Cod peninsula in Massachusetts.
• It is the first large-scale offshore wind project in the United States.

Capacity and Energy Production

• The project has an installed capacity of 806 megawatts (MW), which will generate enough clean electricity to power over 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.
• The wind farm will consist of 62 General Electric Haliade-X wind turbines, each capable of generating up to 13 MW of power.

Construction and Milestones

• Construction on Vineyard Wind 1 began in late 2022, with the project achieving "steel-in-the-water" in June 2023 and completing the nation’s first offshore substation in July 2023.
• As of June 2024, the project has installed 47 foundations and transition pieces and 21 turbines, with the installation of the 22nd turbine underway. Initially, 10 turbines were commissioned, delivering 136 MW to the grid.
• The project received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in May 2021, following an exhaustive public review process that generated over 30,000 public comments.

Transmission and Infrastructure

• The power generated by the turbines is collected by an offshore substation before being transmitted to shore via two submarine cables. These cables are buried up to six feet below the seafloor and connect to an onshore substation in the village of Hyannis, adjacent to an existing Eversource substation.
• The onshore cables are installed underground along public roads in Barnstable.

Environmental and Economic Impact

• The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, equivalent to taking 325,000 cars off the road annually.
• It will save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation and provide New England ratepayers with $3.7 billion in energy savings.

Job Creation and Local Impact

• Vineyard Wind 1 will create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years. As of December 2023, the project has already created nearly double the committed number of union jobs, with 937 union jobs created through two years of construction.
• The project supports a workforce of local, highly skilled, and diverse tradespeople, with a focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through the Project Labor Agreement (PLA).

Partners and Investment

• The project is developed by Vineyard Wind, a company in which the Iberdrola Group has a 50% stake through Avangrid Renewables, and the Danish investment group Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) holds the remaining 50%.
• The project has been supported by a $3 billion investment guaranteed through contracts with the three main energy providers in Massachusetts.

Technology and Components

• The wind farm uses GE Renewable Energy's Haliade-X wind turbine generators, which are the most powerful in operation to date, with a height of 248 meters and the capability to save 52,000 tonnes of CO2 per year each.
• Windar Renovables manufactured the 62 wind turbine foundations, and the Italian Prysmian Group was responsible for the submarine cabling system. The U.S. company Southwire handled the design, manufacture, and installation of the high-voltage overland cables.