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First commercial-scale wind project offshore US powers up
10/1/2024
News
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid recently completed early-stage commissioning work to deliver power from the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project to the New England, US, grid for the first time.
The first turbine delivered approximately 5 MW of power last week, with five turbines expected to be operating at full capacity early in 2024.
‘This truly is a milestone for offshore wind and the entire renewable industry in North America,’ says Tim Evans, Partner at CIP, and Head of North America. ‘For the first time we have power flowing to American consumers from a commercial-scale wind project, which marks the dawn of a new era for American renewables and the green transition.’
Power from the project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard interconnects to the New England grid in Barnstable, transmitted by underground cables that connect to a substation further inland on Cape Cod. Once completed, the project will consist of 62 wind turbines generating 806 MW, enough to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts, while reducing carbon emissions by over 1.6mn t/y.
US President Biden has set an ambitious goal of achieving 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
Project ‘reset’ for Empire Wind 2
Meanwhile, in other US offshore wind news, Equinor and BP have announced an agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to terminate the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) agreement for the 1,260 MW Empire Wind 2 project.
The partners cited ‘changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale’ as the reason for the decision, saying that ‘commercial conditions driven by inflation, interest rates and supply chain disruptions’ had prevented the existing agreement from being viable.
However, Molly Morris, President of Equinor Renewables Americas, added: ‘Commercial viability is fundamental for ambitious projects of this size and scale. The Empire Wind 2 decision provides the opportunity to reset and develop a stronger and more robust project going forward.’
