Avangrid Renewables and Vineyard Wind have formed a strategic partnership to jointly develop a large-scale offshore wind project, located off the coast of Massachusetts.
Avangrid is acquiring a 50% ownership interest in Vineyard Wind, an offshore wind energy developer that is part of the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) portfolio.
Avangrid is a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc. Iberdrola S.A., a worldwide leader in the energy industry with significant offshore wind holdings in Europe, and owns 81.5% of the outstanding shares of AVANGRID common stock.
Last summer, Massachusetts required utilities to procure 1,600 MW of offshore wind energy within the next decade, setting off an intense competition among offshore wind developers in the region. Three companies to date have acquired lease rights to build projects off the coast, including Vineyard Wind. Vineyard Wind’s project area is about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Iberdrola holds offshore wind projects under development or construction in England, Germany and France. Avangrid recently won its first offshore wind lease auction in the U.S. off the coast of North Carolina. CIP is providing investment and management for projects under construction in Germany and Scotland. Executives with extensive offshore wind experience from these European projects will now be joining Vineyard Wind’s local development team, based in New Bedford, Mass.
According to the company, CIP and its executives have developed or invested in some of the biggest offshore wind projects in the world, including the 402 MW Veja Mate project off the coast of Germany and the 588 MW Beatrice project off the coast of Scotland. CIP manages more than $4 billion in assets. It acquired Vineyard Wind in August 2016.
Vineyard Wind plans to begin construction of its project in early 2020 in order to bring the economic development and clean energy benefits of offshore wind to Massachusetts as soon as possible. Vineyard Wind has also worked hard to establish long-term relationships and partnerships with the local community that will provide significant benefits to the project.
