First Full-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in US Places Order for World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbines

US-based offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind has placed an order for sixty-two 13MW wind turbines for its Vineyard Wind 1 project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The order was placed at GE Renewables for its Haliade-X turbines, the most powerful offshore wind turbines currently on the market. GE was announced as the preferred turbine supplier for the project back in December 2020.

Vineyard Wind 1 recently became the first offshore wind farm in the US to achieve financial close after winning federal approval in May. The 800MW capacity project will be located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and produce enough energy for over 400,000 homes and businesses across Massachusetts.

“We’re pleased to supply the first utility-scale offshore installation in the US, increasing the potential of the turbine to generate more power for our customer. Our Haliade-X technology combined with our innovative digital capabilities means GE is well positioned to support the growth of offshore wind in the US and globally,” said John Lavelle, President & CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy.

“After achieving financial close last month, we are now at the point when this industry is no longer just talking about opportunity but delivering it,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen. “With the order now placed for GE’s Haliade-X turbines, we are setting the stage for a new industry, one that will create jobs, save ratepayers more than $1 billion and contribute greatly to a reduction in carbon pollution.”

GE’s Haliade-X prototype in the Netherlands is the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine in operation today and received its official type certification from DNV GL in early 2021. The Haliade-X turbines rise a whopping 248 meters out of the water and have a rotor diameter of 220 meters, almost twice the diameter of the London Eye.

The turbines will be constructed at GE Renewable Energy’s production site in Saint-Nazaire, France.

As we reported previously, the Vineyard Wind 1 project will use a foreign-flagged jack-up wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) belonging to the Belgian group DEME Offshore for the installation work. In order to comply with the Jones Act, coastwise-compliant feeder vessels from FOSS Maritime will transport the wind turbines from the port of New Bedford in Massachusetts to the WTIV offshore.

Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). First energy production from Vineyard Wind 1 is expected in 2023.