BARNSTABLE — The first wind-generated electricity from Vineyard Wind — about 5 megawatts — reached the Massachusetts grid late Tuesday night by way of an undersea cable making landfall in Barnstable.
It’s a major milestone in the project, which received final federal approval in 2021 after several delays. Additional testing is expected to happen on and offshore in the coming weeks, and the project expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity “early in 2024,” according to a news release from Avangrid.
Vineyard Wind in September started installing its 13-megawatt General Electric turbines, which tower hundreds of feet above the Atlantic Ocean. A Vineyard Wind spokesperson on Wednesday said at least five turbines have been installed, and that the tower components for the sixth turbine may also be in the water.
Here it is: Energy history!
— Avangrid (@Avangrid) January 4, 2024
At 11:52 p.m. on January 2, 2024, the first turbine rotation from our nation-leading Vineyard Wind 1 project that delivered the very first #offshore wind power to the Massachusetts grid. https://t.co/6aLhWSMvsU pic.twitter.com/baCOZ928uq
Video of the first Vineyard Wind turbine spinning and sending power to the Massachusetts grid on Jan. 2. Credit: Avangrid
After installation, the turbines need to undergo testing before they can send power to the grid.
The 62-turbine project 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard was slated to be the country’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm operating, but a 12-turbine project, South Fork Wind, came online with its first turbine about one month earlier south of Long Island, New York.
Avangrid and Vineyard Wind spokespersons did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday on whether that first turbine is still sending power to the Massachusetts grid.
“I congratulate Vineyard Wind on this important, hard-won milestone, demonstrating yet again that offshore wind in America is real, and that the Port of New Bedford [is] well-suited to support the industry,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell in a statement Wednesday.
Barges and heavy lift carriers have been active since the summer bringing turbine parts into the port from Canada and Europe for partial assembly at the city’s Marine Commerce Terminal.
How it works
The nacelle (generator) sits atop the turbine tower and contains the machinery that converts wind energy into electricity. From the top, the electricity travels down a cable to the bottom of the turbine.
At the seafloor, it joins an “array cable” with other turbine cables. That array cable then connects to the project’s “offshore substation” — a structure jacked up above the water.
The offshore substation, also called an “electrical service platform,” stabilizes the power and prepares it for transmission to land. It functions, in part, to increase the voltage to send the power to shore along miles of export cables, explained Eric Hines, who directs the offshore wind energy program at Tufts University.
The power travels through the cables some 40 miles north — past Martha’s Vineyard — to land underneath Covell’s Beach in Barnstable.
“Generally speaking, when power is produced in a remote location such as a wind farm, the voltage will start at a higher level as it is more efficient to transport,” said a spokesperson with ISO New England, the nonprofit regional grid operator, by email. “Transformers can then reduce the voltage along with other equipment to prevent dips or spikes before power enters the regional grid.”
From Barnstable, the electricity will continue to travel in cables buried underneath roadways until it reaches an onshore substation a few miles away. Those cables are surrounded by steel, encased in concrete, and buried approximately 3 feet deep, according to Vineyard Wind.
Avangrid and Vineyard Wind spokespeople did not answer questions about transmission and testing last month. Initially, officials said Vineyard Wind would start sending power to the grid by mid-October. Then, that changed to by the end of 2023, a deadline the company also missed.
An ISO New England spokesperson said that generally, projects integrated into the electric system contribute to the regional supply, and that the electricity will flow where it is needed.
Dozens of turbines to go
Turbine installation may be slower over the winter months as seafaring conditions prove more challenging and limiting. The stocked barges exiting the port of New Bedford have been allowed to do so only during daylight hours when wind speeds are less than 15 knots and visibility is greater than 1 nautical mile.
Last month, the Port Authority sent out text alerts notifying port users of barge transit postponements or cancellations due to weather.
Offshore conditions may present more challenges.
During a discussion with the state’s fisheries working group on “lessons learned” after the first year of construction, an Ørsted official spoke of delays its South Fork Wind project faced.
The Ørsted rep told a group of fishermen, state and federal officials during a Zoom call in November that conditions offshore can be unpredictable, citing weather (wind, waves, lightning and fog), marine mammal sightings, and specialized equipment as contributing to delays.
Vineyard Wind, with a slogan of “Forever First” printed across its sign at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, is expected to complete construction this year. It is jointly owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid.
“We’ve arrived at a watershed moment for climate action in the U.S., and a dawn for the American offshore wind industry,” said Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra in a statement. “As we build on this tremendous progress and work to deliver the full capacity of this historic project, we continue to stand proudly with all the partners that made this achievement possible, including the Biden Administration and the Healey-Driscoll Administration.”
Gov. Maura Healey in a statement called Vineyard Wind’s first power a “historic moment” for the country’s offshore wind industry: “As we look ahead, Massachusetts is on a path toward energy independence thanks to our nation-leading work to stand up the offshore wind industry.”
“Our nation’s clean energy transition is happening right here and now,” said Elizabeth Klein, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, in a statement. “This project will soon generate enough power for over 400,000 households and help ensure a habitable planet for generations to come.”
Vineyard Wind estimates the project will reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, or the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road.
“We do not think we’re competing against Ørsted for who’s going to build the first project. I don’t think Massachusetts is competing against New York. We’re all competing against climate change,” said Ken Kimmell, vice president of offshore wind development at Avangrid Renewables during a panel in Boston last month.
“No one is going to care in 10 years who flipped the switch first,” he said. “What’s going to matter is, did we collectively take on humanity’s biggest challenge, and did we offer a solution for that? And the answer is going to be yes.”
A more collective effort may be on the horizon. Last fall, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut announced a multi-state procurement for offshore wind projects. The goal is to leverage the states’ buying power, lower project costs, and reduce risk for the wind industry, which in recent months has canceled contracts amid inflation and supply chain challenges.
Bids for the next round, which is seeking up to 3,600 megawatts of offshore wind power, are due to the state by Jan. 31.
With five turbines, or up to 65 megawatts, operational by early this year, according to Vineyard Wind, the United States inches toward the Biden administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
Huzzah! Cape wind seems to be a “sensitive to abutters” neighbor. Well done.
Sorry, they will never actually make a meaningful impact on “climate change” which is mostly hype, in 10-15 years (far less than comparable fossil fuels or nuclear plants) they will be junk and most of the parts are non rebuildable or recyclable and or not economical to repair or refurbish, they will cause power bills to increase AND they will likely damage the fisheries off the coast for years to come. They will only product power some of the time and require backup quick turn up/down other power generating systems to acoomdate them on the grid when they are not working and therefore will increase costs. Look at the UK and every area of Europe they have been tried, the hype doesnt match the reality. They will however make a few people, groups and countries rich.