Wind Energy – U.S.A.
Vineyard Wind today broke ground on Vineyard Wind 1, the nation’s first commercial scale offshore wind farm.
The 800-megawatt (MW) project, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, 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.
A ceremony to commemorate the event was held at Covell’s Beach in Barnstable, the site where two cables will make landfall and connect to the grid at a substation further inland on Cape Cod.
The event was attended by approximately 200 people including Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, State House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senator Julian Cyr, Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen, Senior Partner & Co-founder of CIP Christian T. Skakkebæk, Head of Iberdrola’s Global Renewables Business, Xabier Viteri, CEO of AVANGRID Dennis V. Arriola, as well as other state and local officials and community advocates.
“Many people have worked extremely hard to make today possible, a day where we turn forward thinking into action,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen.
“From the environmental and community activists to our elected leadership at the local, state and federal level, it’s taken all of us, pulling in the same direction and not being deterred by setbacks both large and small. By focusing on our ultimate goal – developing clean, cost-effective energy that will cut carbon pollution and create thousands of jobs in the process – we never lost sight of what mattered most, and we ultimately have a better project as a result. I want to thank everyone for their commitment to and belief in this industry and look forward to celebrating many more milestones in the months ahead.”
DEME Offshore US LLC will serve as the contractor for the offshore transport and installation of the wind turbine generators for the Vineyard Wind 1 project.
