The developers of what could the US' first utility-scale offshore wind farm have called for the government to resume its project permitting process.
Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have rescinded their request to temporarily withdraw their construction and operations plan for their 800MW Vineyard Wind project – (800MW Vineyard Wind 1 Vineyard Wind 1 (800MW) Offshoreoff Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, North America Click to see full details and {{Vineyard Wind 1 phase II-4295d688-7517-6f16-9892-d9a758c9ae2a}}).
The developers had paused permitting to carry out a technical review of the project after changing turbines. Last month, they announced that GE Renewable Energy would supply its Haliade-X turbine to the offshore wind farm located 24.1km off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Avangrid and CIP had initially chosen MHI Vestas to supply 9.5MW turbines, but then opted for GE’s Haliade-X machine, which has a power rating of 12-14MW. It is not clear which power rating will be used at Vineyard Wind.
The offshore wind project had been repeatedly delayed, in part due to concerns its turbines would interfere with commercial fishing.
CEO of Vineyard Wind, Lars Pedersen, said that no further changes to the construction and operations plan were needed following the company’s final review.
He said: “Since there are no changes required to the construction and operations plan, we expect that BOEM can finalise their review based on the extensive analysis and studies of the project over the last three years.”
He added: “We look forward to completing the permitting phase of the project and to finalising the engineering, contracting and financing of the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the US.”
The developers still expect to reach financial close in the second half of this year and to begin commissioning the project in 2023.
If built, Vineyard Wind could be the US’s first utility scale offshore wind farm, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has been contacted for comment.
