From WBUR-Boston, March 14:
After years of starts and stops, workers installed the final blades on the last turbine Friday evening to complete Vineyard Wind, the country's first large-scale offshore wind project.
It will be at least several weeks until all 62 turbines in the wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts are fully up and running, generating power for the New England grid. Still, the end of construction is a milestone for the project and the U.S. offshore wind industry, which has faced years of economic and political headwinds.
Gov. Maura Healey said she was "thrilled" to learn construction was complete, noting that the project is expected to save Massachusetts ratepayers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation.
"The affordable, homegrown power it delivers to Massachusetts residents and businesses will bring costs down as President Trump throws global markets into disarray," she said in a statement.
As the first large offshore wind project to go through the cumbersome federal permitting process, all eyes have been on Vineyard Wind from the beginning. Whether it would reach this point was not a sure bet.
Construction has been pushed back several times, beginning in 2019 under the first Trump administration. In 2024 a turbine blade snapped and debris washed up on the shores of Nantucket, causing months of delay. And just three months ago, when the project was 95% complete, the U.S. Interior Department issued a stop-work order.
But with a stretch of good weather offshore, the developers behind the $4.5 billion project managed to get over the finish line.
The next step is what's called commissioning — the complicated process of connecting turbines to the grid and ensuring they work properly. In an earnings call earlier this week, Iberdrola, the parent company of Avangrid, one of the project's co-developers, told investors that 52 of the 62 turbines are authorized for operation.
A spokesperson for Vineyard Wind declined to say exactly how many turbines are generating power, but in late January, the company said in court documents that 44 turbines were operational. When fully online, the wind farm will be capable of producing 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power about 400,000 homes in the region.
As Vineyard Wind finished construction Friday evening, the wind developer Ørsted announced that some of its turbines in the Revolution Wind project near Rhode Island were sending power to the grid for the first time. That project is nearly complete as well, and will eventually be capable of powering up to 350,000 homes....
....MUCH MORE
