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BOSTON — Attorneys for Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova argued before a judge Thursday afternoon, but left court without any resolution in their fight over finishing Massachusetts’ first and only offshore wind farm.
Judge Peter B. Krupp of the Suffolk County Superior Court scheduled a hearing for May 1 for the parties to argue over whether Vineyard Wind should get a preliminary injunction to stop GE Vernova from exiting the project, or whether the issue should move to arbitration.
Vineyard Wind last week sued GE Vernova, its turbine supplier (also known as GE Renewables). It alleges GEV is breaching its contract with its plans to abandon the project by April 28 — during its critical final stage of coming fully online.
The final blade was bolted in last month at the 62-turbine wind farm following an offshore installation campaign that Vineyard Wind says went two years over schedule.
GEV had to remove and replace more than 60 blades, significantly delaying the project’s installation. Frances Bivens, attorney for Vineyard Wind, said there were “meters-long gaps” in the adhesive holding together the blade that collapsed.
GEV filed a motion Wednesday to stay the case and compel Vineyard Wind to pursue arbitration with a “dispute adjudication board” outlined in the contract. GEV says Vineyard Wind skipped requisite steps by taking the dispute, which centers on hundreds of millions of dollars, to litigation.
The case adds to a long list of headwinds the offshore wind industry has faced since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office last year. While those with stakes in the project have been measured in their comments — or withheld them altogether — people opposed to offshore wind have been celebrating the two companies’ fight on social media, expressing hope it’ll lead to the sinking of the project.
Krupp asked GEV’s attorneys why the company only now acted to terminate the contract, when it says Vineyard Wind has not paid since 2024.
David Lender, an attorney for GEV, said the company understands this is an important project and felt it wasn’t the “right thing to do” to step away before all the components were installed.
“Now we’re at the last step where we can turn this project over to someone else to finish the last stage if they choose not to pay us,” Lender said.
GE Vernova’s response
GEV says it is within its right to terminate its contract to service and maintain the turbines for years to come. In response to Vineyard Wind’s claims, GEV alleges the developer is not following the agreed-upon version of the contract, but instead an initial version that would have given Vineyard Wind all the bargaining power.
“VW is trying to hold GER to terms VW gave up at the bargaining table — the very first draft of the [turbine supply agreement], before GER added a single redline,” GEV’s opposition motion reads. “VW, however, is bound by the deal it struck — not the deal it wanted but did not get.”
GEV called the dispute a “self-inflicted” and “self-made problem” by Vineyard Wind, and said the company’s emergency motion before the court is “a bid to gain leverage in a long-term, ongoing commercial dispute between the Parties.”
Vineyard Wind is currently withholding more than $300 million, stating it is owed more than $800 million by GEV stemming from the delays and added work following the catastrophic blade failure in 2024. But the signed contract, GEV says, limits Vineyard Wind’s withholdings for disputed claims to 5% of the contract price, so an estimated $65 million.
GEV says it hasn’t been paid in more than two years for the work it has done, incurring nearly $2 billion in costs. But Vineyard Wind argues GEV did not use the formal mechanisms dictated by the contract to dispute the claims.
Much of the hearing delved into the nitty gritty of clauses and sections and subsections — and subsections of those subsections — of the contract the parties signed in 2021.
Could the project really be abandoned?
Vineyard Wind alleges that if GEV walks away, the project “will likely fail, leaving the windfarm stranded” and unable to reach the power output for Massachusetts residents that Vineyard Wind promised in power contracts.
The wind developer also says this dispute creates a risk that the project would turn into a “dormant wind farm graveyard.”
To some, that might be an unbelievable thought given not only the years and billions of dollars sunk into the project, but also Massachusetts’ vested interest in securing the project’s power for residents.
The regional grid operator, ISO New England, has also said Vineyard Wind is a critical component of its future operations. Speaking about Revolution Wind as well, the operator said last December that both projects are included in “near-term and future modeling and analyses to ensure adequate electricity for New England.”
“Canceling or delaying these projects will increase costs and risks to reliability in our region,” it said regarding the Trump administration’s stop-work orders, which federal judges have since paused.
State agencies that have defended offshore wind against the Trump administration’s opposition were cautious about the Vineyard Wind-GE dispute. A spokesperson with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office said the office has no comment.
Maria Hardiman, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, issued a written statement.
“Vineyard Wind has powered Massachusetts homes all winter and lowered electricity costs. The project is critical to New England’s reliability,” Hardiman wrote. “We urge the parties to reach a resolution as soon as possible and no disruptions to the important work happening at this facility.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey declined to comment, referring The Light to EEA.
Could anyone else finish the project?
A handful of the project’s 62 turbines have yet to be fully commissioned and start sending power to the grid. Vineyard Wind says some turbines are experiencing recurrent issues, including tripping of the electrical system that is causing the turbines to shut down, curtailing output.
The turbines “are not yet fully operational and are able to produce power only at levels well below those intended,” Vineyard Wind attorneys wrote.
Project executives told the court it would be challenging for other companies to repair and service the turbines because GEV does not share its proprietary technology.
However, GEV says if it exits the contract, Vineyard Wind has many options for other subcontractors to take over the remaining commissioning work, going so far as to list four pages of them.
“VW’s claim that GER is the ‘only’ contractor who can complete or service the Project does not change the analysis. It is also wrong,” GEV’s filing reads. “GER itself relies and would continue to rely upon third-party contractors to perform a substantial portion of the work on the Project. VW could use these same contractors or a host of other available companies to complete the remaining work.”
GEV also noted the contract allows for it to transfer some of its subcontractors to Vineyard Wind without the subcontractors’ consent.
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“To the extent that access to certain GER-developed materials, software, or tools would facilitate completion, GER is able and willing to work in good faith to provide reasonable access or transition support,” reads a declaration from Sebastian Mertens, GEV’s project director for Vineyard Wind.
Mertens said that while GEV’s continued involvement “may make some of the completion work more efficient, it is not technically necessary.”
Bivens balked at this. She cited the list of vendors provided by GEV, saying some “have nothing to do with turbines” and that others are direct competitors of GEV.
It’s “almost an insult to our collective intelligence,” Bivens said.
She said the turbine model used by the Vineyard Wind project, GEV’s 13-megawatt Haliade-X, has not been put into operation before. It’s also being installed at Dogger Bank, a project in the North Sea that also experienced a blade failure.
“Vineyard Wind is the beta test for these blades and GE is saying they can just leave now,” Bivens said.
Krupp said he understands why this is an urgent matter, and affirmed the parties’ desire to resolve it “sooner rather than later.”
GEV in its February notice said it intends to terminate the contract on April 28. The Light contacted GEV Thursday afternoon seeking comment on what the company plans to do, given the next hearing is May 1.
In a statement earlier this week, Mayor Jon Mitchell, a longtime proponent of offshore wind and New Bedford’s role in Vineyard Wind’s buildout, expressed optimism that the parties would come to a resolution.
“It’s unfortunate that the two companies, which have worked so effectively together for several years, have found themselves on opposite sides of a courtroom,” he said. “That said, I would be surprised if the matter were not settled in the near future, as each has too much to lose in a protracted litigation.”
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
