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NEW BEDFORD — As the assembly line of turbine towers standing at the quayside of the staging terminal peters out, Vineyard Wind has more than doubled its power production, according to the latest federal data, even as the Trump administration keeps trying to shut down the offshore wind industry.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released the latest data on electricity sold by Vineyard Wind on Oct. 31. In the third (and latest) quarter, July through September, the project sold approximately 136,000 megawatt-hours of energy, up from 57,000 in the second quarter.
What does that mean for Massachusetts residents? The under-construction project sold enough electricity this summer to power an estimated 50,000 homes, up from about 33,000 in the spring, The Light calculated. (Depending on the residential consumption over a month or year, the homes-powered estimate can vary by thousands.)
Vineyard Wind and state officials say the project will power up to 400,000 homes when completed. The company declined to comment on the latest figures, which it reported to the federal agency.
The project is producing power from about 50% of its turbines as of October, according to an Oct. 28 report from Iberdrola, the project’s parent company. It’s an increase since July, when company officials said 17 turbines were generating nearly 30% of the project’s power.
What’s left?
More than two years since it sent the first set of turbine components out from the Port of New Bedford, Vineyard Wind has at most five of its 62 turbine towers left to install as of the end of October.
At the start of October, a Vineyard Wind spokesperson said the project was delivering at a capacity of 400 megawatts, or about half of the 806-megawatt project.
Satellite images from late October reviewed by The Light, which capture the project’s expansive white blades popping against the atmospheric view of the Atlantic, showed at least 56 towers were standing. Most of the towers have blades, but several don’t.
Vessel shipments suggest 57 towers may now be in, but more recent satellite images are not clear or capture clouds covering the lease site.
This week, vessel trackers show the installation vessel, the Sea Installer, near the location for a turbine that was shipped out on a barge in recent days, suggesting the installation of the 58th tower is underway.
In September, Vineyard Wind had only 10 “loadouts” to go, meaning 10 more barge shipments that usually — though not always — contain three blades, two tower pieces, and one nacelle.
It’s not clear whether workers will complete installation by the year’s end, as Iberdrola projected this summer. Construction usually slows in the colder seasons, which brings with it stronger winds and seas.
If Vineyard Wind doesn’t finish by December, the project has another six months on its lease to utilize the state’s commerce terminal.
New Bedford’s Marine Commerce Terminal, previously packed with blades, nacelles and towers for Vineyard Wind, has grown sparse. Blue metal cages that once hugged the components are now empty and stacked, waiting to be shipped out.
After all 62 towers are installed, work may continue with the help of a second specialized installation vessel, the Wind Pace, which has been at work removing blades and taking them to Canada as part of the government-mandated response to the July 2024 blade failure. The new replacement blades have been coming from a French factory.
In October, the terminal took in three vessel shipments from France, altogether carrying more than 20 blades, as well as a shipment of tower components. Meanwhile, one vessel carrying at least four blades set course for Canada, according to Port Authority vessel alerts and images shared by West Island Weather Station.
Vineyard Wind, 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, is Massachusetts’ only offshore wind farm currently under construction and generating power.
New England Wind 1 and SouthCoast Wind, two other Massachusetts wind projects that intend to base some operations or construction out of New Bedford, face mounting delays due to the Trump administration’s opposition to the industry.
The Trump administration is looking to remand critical permits for those two Massachusetts projects. From January through September, the administration took more than 20 actions against multiple offshore wind projects (and the industry at large) through numerous agencies.
Revolution Wind, contracted by Rhode Island and Connecticut, is also under construction to the west of Vineyard Wind. Its developer, Orsted, is using New London, Connecticut, as its staging area. Sunrise Wind, another Orsted project, is in earlier stages of construction. Orsted completed a 12-turbine farm, South Fork Wind, last year.
Our offshore wind tracker: What’s new with wind projects off Massachusetts and beyond?
Offshore wind is changing fast. Here’s our tracker, first published in April 2025, and the latest on where the Northeast’s wind projects stand as of Feb. 2, 2026.
Estimating homes powered
According to the FERC report, Vineyard Wind 1 produced about 136,200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy in the last quarter, which spanned July, August and September.
Using recent U.S. Energy Information Administration data, which captures monthly residential consumption only up to August of this year, The Light estimated about 50,000 homes powered for just the months of July and August. During this period, the average household usage was about 760 kilowatt-hours in Massachusetts.
Usage is often higher in the summer, as that’s when people are running their air conditioners. It’s greater than the monthly average calculated over a year, which was 580 kilowatt-hours in 2024.
Using the lower, year-round figure, The Light estimates Vineyard Wind sold enough energy to power up to 78,000 homes.
ISO New England, the grid operator, publishes data on what resources are powering the grid at any given time. However, the company does not disclose the electrical output of specific projects, citing “confidentiality rules.”
Capacity figures
The project’s 806-megawatts figure represents the nameplate capacity, which is the amount of energy a project could generate if its turbines ran 100% of the time at optimal wind speeds.
In reality, a wind turbine’s output ranges, affected by wind speeds and downtime for maintenance; it varies on a given day, week, and month; and it underpins an important concept: capacity factor. If a 100-megawatt project has a capacity factor of 50%, it produces 50 megawatts on average.
Offshore wind projects have a capacity factor ranging between about 40% and 50% (sometimes a bit higher). It’s comparable to the rates achieved by coal and natural gas plants, per federal data.
Vineyard Wind has not provided details on the project’s capacity factor thus far. A 2020 construction and operations plan for the project listed a capacity factor “in excess of 45%.”
Generally, capacity factor increases in the winter, when wind speeds are higher. Because of seasonal variability, this metric is best calculated over the course of one year.
It’s likely that once Vineyard Wind reaches full power, the FERC electricity reports will vary by season.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
Just nonsense and no one is buying it. Look at the Electric Bills are they coming down? The answer is NO, wind has done nothing but drive up our electric bills up, hurting home owners, businesses, and renters. Both the Governor and the Mayor have to be voted out of office, residents of this state and city deserve so much better.
Look at the increase in output.
Look at the fuel cost.
We have the governor and mayor that we clearly voted for.
We have what we voted for.
Rhode Island Energy, for the fifth time since 2023, has a goal of a PPA, an offshore wind power purchase agreement, by November 1, 2025. A sixth date has not been set yet.
Power purchase agreements (PPA) enable the purchase of clean energy from a power generation facility directly, in this case, SouthCoast Wind.
Why announce the project power agreement completion dates, and at what point do the postponements become an embarrassment for everyone, including the news media?
Consumers knowing the true cost of energy is super important. Thank you for informative articles that explain the renewable projects feeding the New England grid. Using electrons to power crypto and AI is like throwing resources into the trash. It takes so much to build any power plant, we should use that investment in the energy it produces with due consideration. We are being set up to compete with billionaire-funded pipedream datacenters for scant electricity sources. Look at PA with all the fracked gas to burn, yet still paying through the roof for electricity due to data centre demand. This overcapitalised, MA state tax exempt industry is of limited utility. It seeks to make us consumer-thralls of the AI techbro’s crappy substitute for human intellect.
I cannot wait for my electricity cost to go down thanks to this wonderful investment. I’m sure I will see the results this winter, right Maura H.?
Windturbines Nightmare
Thank you President Trump for stopping this !
It is not stopping in Red states.
“While Texas is known for its oil derricks and natural gas pumps, wind turbines have become a major part of the state’s landscape. In fact, Texas is the nationwide leader in wind energy generation, generating 28% of the nation’s total wind production in 2024.”
According to the most recent monthly wind production data from the EIA, Texas produced 30.3% of the nation’s wind energy, more than double the amount from Oklahoma, the next highest-generating state.”
Up 17% in 2025, so far.