ENERGYWIRE | Massachusetts activated a pair of long-term power contracts for Vineyard Wind on Monday, in a sign that the country’s first offshore wind project is nearing completion.
The decision is a major milestone for a project that was rocked by the Trump administration’s move to halt construction in December and a turbine supplier’s recent threat to walk away. In both cases, court rulings in favor of Vineyard Wind kept the $4.5 billion project moving forward. Construction was completed in March, and the project is now testing and bringing online turbines.
Massachusetts leaders said a pair of 20-year power purchase agreements would save Bay State consumers $1.4 billion over their lifetime. Vineyard Wind — which was selling power on New England’s wholesale electricity market before Monday — helped prevent prices from going even higher this winter, when frigid winter temperatures sent electricity prices skyrocketing, state leaders said.
At 800 megawatts, Vineyard Wind is the largest offshore wind project built in the U.S. to date. Each of its two contracts with Massachusetts utilities is for 400 megawatts of electricity. One starts at $74 per megawatt-hour and increases 2.5 percent annually. The other starts at $65 per MWh and increases by 2.5 percent annually.
Well, Massachusetts is widely regarded as the most educated state in the nation with the best public schools (and they have the high tax rates to fund that.)
It been a few months now. Vineyard Wind is having some teething problems.
Still, Vineyard Wind’s future is murky. Its turbines produce less than half the energy promised. The project’s developer is embroiled in a bitter legal battle that company executives say threatens to turn Vineyard Wind’s 62 turbines into a “dormant wind farm graveyard.”…
In a May 1 court filing, Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller said the project’s current average output is roughly 300 megawatts, and 13 of the 62 turbines are not yet activated. Significant remedial and repair work is needed to address “recurrent operational issues,” Vineyard Wind officials said in court documents. The problems include sensors that repeatedly trip, causing the turbines to shut off and curtailing their performance and power generation.
Threatened with being left in the lurch, Vineyard Wind is suing to prevent turbine supplier and installer GE Vernova from walking away from the project and maintenance contract, which Vineyard Wind officials said would make it impossible to finish work on the turbines and maintain them to the standards needed to produce electricity.
Healey celebrates completion of Vineyard Wind project as company faces financial disputes
The offshore wind farm is producing power at less than half of its expected capacity as it remains in litigation with its turbine supplier, and its parent company is being sued for more than $1 million
The $4.5 billion project has supported nearly 4,000 jobs since it began, and operations and maintenance are expected to sustain between 80 and 100 jobs per year moving forward. Vineyard Wind will save Massachusetts families and businesses an estimated $1.4 billion on their electricity bills and will generate enough clean, affordable energy to power over 400,000 homes and businesses in New England, Healey said. The project will reduce carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year, according to Vineyard Wind’s website.
But in April, Vineyard Wind sued its turbine supplier, GE Vernova, alleging that the company had breached its contract after it sent a notice threatening to terminate their agreement because it had not been paid $360 million. Vineyard Wind has argued that GE owes the company more than $800 million for multiple project delays and the costly impacts of a turbine blade that snapped in 2024 and washed up on the shores of Nantucket. A judge this month issued a preliminary injunction requiring GE to continue servicing and maintaining the turbines.
The wind farm is producing power at less than half of its expected 800-megawatt capacity, which is below what is needed for the project to comply with its financing obligations, The New Bedford Light reported this month. Of the 62 turbines, 36 are not spinning, according to Vineyard Wind’s attorney. The company has blamed GE for not keeping up with repairs to bring the wind farm up to capacity.