Iberdrola begins commissioning Vineyard Wind I, the largest offshore wind farm in the US
Iberdrola has begun commissioning the Vineyard Wind I offshore wind farm, the first large-scale project of this technology in the United States. With 806 MW of capacity, the facility has already begun to supply green energy to Massachusetts, a state that will be supplied with wind power to more than 400,000 homes, which is more than half the size of a city like Boston or the entire island of Palma de Mallorca.
The project, which expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity by the beginning of the year, has been backed by a 3 billion dollar investment (more than 2.7 billion euros at current exchange rates) secured through contracts with the state's three main electric utilities. The park began construction in 2021, and will be fully operational in 2024, by which time it will prevent the emission of more than 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of removing 325,000 vehicles from the roads.
Each of the turbines, whose transition parts have been manufactured in Avilés by the Asturian company Windar Renovables, will provide energy to more than 6,000 homes and businesses. Made up of a tower, three blades and a nacelle, they have a nominal capacity of 13 megawatts (MW), making them the largest turbine in the western world. Thus, a single rotation can power a Massachusetts home for an entire day.
"We are finally delivering clean offshore wind power to the Massachusetts grid. We are at a watershed moment for climate action in the United States and we are experiencing a dawning for the nation's offshore wind industry. As the capacity of this historic project comes online, we will continue to support all of the partners who have made this achievement possible," said Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid, Iberdrola's US subsidiary.
Last October, Avangrid and Danish investment group Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a co-owner of the project, announced that Vineyard Wind 1 had closed a 1.2 billion dollar (about 1.135 billion euros) fiscal equity package, the first of its kind for commercial-scale offshore wind with three US-based banks.
A LARGE CHAIN OF SUPPLIERS
Spanish company Windar Renovables has been commissioned to manufacture the 62 foundations for the wind turbines. The contract, worth nearly 100 million euros, has created nearly 400 jobs at its facilities in Asturias.
The Italian company Prysmian Group was responsible for the commissioning of the submarine cable system that will connect the offshore wind farm to the US mainland electricity grid. In total, more than 134 kilometres of high-voltage AC power cable were required. The US company Southwire was responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of the more than 51 kilometres of high-voltage onshore cable.
In July 2023, the installation of the offshore substation, which will serve the entire Vineyard Wind I project, was completed. It is the first substation of its kind installed by Iberdrola in the United States and the sixth in the world, weighing more than 5,000 tonnes, making it the largest the company has ever installed.
LEADER IN OFFSHORE WIND
Within Iberdrola's renewables portfolio, offshore wind energy is a major technology. The company has committed to new growth platforms with great potential, such as Poland, Sweden, Ireland, the United States, Brazil, the Philippines and Japan, which has enabled it to currently have an offshore wind portfolio of more than 30 GW. As a result, the company is assured of meeting its plan by 2025, when it will reach 3,100 MW in operation.
In addition to Vineyard Wind I, the company's most noteworthy projects include the East Anglia Hub complex in the United Kingdom, which contains three projects with a total installed capacity of 2,900 MW, Saint-Brieuc in France, and its three wind farms in Baltic waters: Wikinger, Baltic Eagle and Windanker.
