The Vineyard Wind 1 wind farm will generate enough clean energy to be supplied to 400,000 homes and business in the US
GE’s Haliade-X prototype installed in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. (Credit: General Electric.)
Vineyard Wind has selected GE Renewable Energy as the preferred supplier of wind turbines for its upcoming 800MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm, the first utility-scale project in the US.
For the project, GE is expected to supply its latest offshore wind turbine variant Haliade-X, which features 13MW and 12MW power generating options. The turbine has a rotor diameter of 220m and the blades span 107m.
Based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind is owned by funds of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and by Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID.
Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said: “The selection of GE as our preferred turbine supplier means that a historic American company will play a vital role in the development of the first commercial scale offshore wind power in the U.S.
“This is a huge moment not only for the future of our project, but also for the future of an industry that is poised for exponential growth in the coming decades.”
Vineyard Wind 1 to avoid 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually
The Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm is expected to be located about 15 miles (24km) off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
The project could generate cost-competitive electricity to power more than 400,000 US homes and businesses, while reducing more than 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
GE Renewable Energy offshore wind president and CEO John Lavelle said:“GE Renewable Energy is proud to partner with Vineyard Wind for the first major offshore wind project in the US. To be selected as the preferred supplier is an important sign of confidence for our proven technology and for all our employees around the world.
“We look forward to making this important contribution to the growth of offshore wind in the US.”
The company has now decided to temporarily withdraw its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from further review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), following the selection of GE as a preferred supplied.
The withdrawal of plan to expected toe enable the project team to carry out a final technical review to include the Haliade-X into the final design of the project.