In a major milestone for the US offshore wind industry, wind turbine installation at Vineyard Wind 1, the US’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, is expected to start next week.

The $3.5 billion Vineyard Wind 1, a 50/50 joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) funds CI II and CI III, is 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and 35 miles from mainland Massachusetts.

The 806 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm will feature 62 GE Haliade-X 13-megawatt (MW) turbines spaced one nautical mile apart. They’ll each have a 220-meter (722-foot) rotor, 107-meter (351-foot) blades, and will be 248 meters (814 feet) high.

The vessel Sea Installer, which is owned by offshore energy contractor DEME, will install Vineyard Wind 1’s turbines. DEME’s vessel Orion installed the offshore substation (above), which was officially unveiled yesterday – it’s also the US’s first offshore wind substation – and Orion is in the process of installing the wind turbine’s foundations now.

Turbine blades for Vineyard Wind 1 started to arrive at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal in Massachusetts in June.

Once the turbines are installed and online, six turbines will initially send around 78 MW to the regional grid by mid-October. There are plans to ramp Vineyard Wind 1 up to 200-300 MW by the end of 2023, and it will reach its full power potential of 806 MW by mid-2024.

Vineyard Wind I will supply clean energy for over 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts and reduce carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year, an equivalent of removing 325,000 vehicles from roads.

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Photo: Vineyard Wind 1

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