Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Inc., has received the first shipment of turbine components for GE’s Haliade-X 13 MW turbine at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
Towers will arrive in three sections and once onshore will be staged at the terminal before being partially assembled and loaded onto a specialized barge for installation later this summer. Approximately 100 union tradespeople will work on the site during the peak construction period.
“After a long road, the first day of component arrival is finally here,” says Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Moeller. “The vision of New Bedford at the epicenter of the offshore wind industry is coming to life.”
An 800 MW project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts, create 3,600 full-time equivalent job years and save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation. It 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.
The project will begin delivering energy to Massachusetts this year.
“In the face of challenges to the supply chain worldwide, the arrival of the towers in Massachusetts is a tangible sign of progress in the greening of New England’s grid,” says State Sen. Mike Barrett, senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. “You can’t help but feel encouraged.”
