GE Renewable Energy is due to supply its Haliade-X turbine to the 800MW Vineyard Wind I wind farm off Massachusetts.
Vineyard Wind – a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners – has named GE as the preferred supplier for its project.
The developer had initially chosen MHI Vestas to supply 9.5MW turbines, but has now opted for GE’s Haliade-X machine, which has a power rating of 12-13MW.
It is not clear whether Vineyard Wind intends to use the 12MW or 13MW version of the Haliade-X.
The developer has also temporarily withdrawn its construction and operations plan from further review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). This would “allow the project team to conduct a final technical review associated with the inclusion of the Haliade-X into the final project design”, Vineyard Wind stated.
CEO Lars Pedersen added that this decision would also prevent any further federal delays.
Vineyard expects its review to take several weeks, after which it will resume the federal permitting process.
It still expects to reach financial close in the second half of 2021 and to start producing energy in 2023.
Vineyard Wind could be the US’s first utility scale offshore wind farm, and is due to be the country’s largest such operational project by 2023, according to Windpower intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.
The Vineyard Wind deal adds to a short list of US offshore projects GE is due to supply: Ørsted’s 120MW Skipjack and 1.1GW Ocean Wind sites.
GE has now announced supply deals for just over 4.4GW for its Haliade-X turbine. It is also due to supply the 2.4GW first two phases of Equinor and SSE's Dogger Bank complex in the UK.
