Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and AVANGRID, Inc. received the first shipment of turbine components for GE’s Haliade-X 13-megawatt (MW) turbine at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
The tower sections – the base of the turbine that’s placed on top of the yellow transition piece – will be constructed at the terminal before being shipped out and installed later this summer.
“After a long road, the first day of component arrival is finally here,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Moeller. “This is great milestone for New Bedford, Vineyard Wind and the country. We’ve been working together with Mayor Mitchell for years to achieve this and are now finally seeing the result. I am proud to introduce this technology to the US and to see the many jobs that this industry will create in action on the site to today. This is only the first – much more is coming. And the vision of New Bedford at the epicenter of the offshore wind industry is coming to life today.”
Towers will arrive in three sections and once onshore will be staged at the terminal before being partially assembled by union labor and loaded onto a specialized barge. In all, approximately 100 union trades people will work on the site during the peak construction period.
“Congratulations to Vineyard Wind, as well as the workers, local officials, businesses, and advocates who made this important milestone possible,” said Governor Maura Healey. “The Vineyard Wind 1 project is an integral part of our efforts to make Massachusetts a global leader in offshore wind. Our administration looks forward to continuing to support this project and bringing clean, affordable energy to Massachusetts.”
"We are pleased to work closely with our customer, Vineyard Wind, to bring this historic project on line,” said GE Vernova Offshore Wind CEO Jan Kjaersgaard. “Our teams at GE Vernova are proud to support the effort to bring more clean, renewable energy online in Massachusetts, across the US, and globally."
Vineyard Wind recently submitted its first annual report to the state compiled by UMass Dartmouth and Springline Research Group that found that Vineyard Wind is jumpstarting the offshore wind economy in Massachusetts.
An 800-megawatt project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years, save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation, and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road annually. The project will begin delivering clean energy to Massachusetts in 2023.
