Vineyard Wind continues its progress towards providing clean energy in 2023
Vineyard Wind has hit a number of milestones throughout the year as 2023 winds down in New Bedford.
The celebration of the day Vineyard Wind project partners Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners announced that the project had already created 937 union jobs through two years of construction is the latest development.
That’s nearly double the commitment to create 500 union jobs as outlined in the project labor agreement signed in 2021.
That milestone was announced Dec. 15, the same day Vineyard Wind’s submitted its second annual report to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.
“By the time we complete construction on Vineyard Wind 1, Avangrid will have delivered more than 1,000 union jobs and enough clean power for 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts,” Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said in a press release.
Gov. Maura Healey also weighed in on Vineyard Wind nearly doubling its commitment to job creation.
“Massachusetts labor unions continue to lead the way in innovative job training programs and forging important partnerships with emerging industries,” she said. “This is exactly the kind of economic development we are looking to foster.”
How many people working on Vineyard Wind are from the SouthCoast?
The report also finds that 71.5 percent of union workers on the project are residents of Southeastern Massachusetts and states that the project has created 1,989 jobs overall.
In addition, the report finds that 19.6 percent of the union workforce on the project are Black, Indigenous or People of Color. Under the project labor agreement, the goal was 20 percent of union workers meeting those criteria.
Vineyard Wind's first turbine leaves New Bedford
Once completed, there will be 62 GE Haliade-X wind turbines generating 806 megawatts, or enough to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.
In early September, Vineyard Wind’s first turbine left the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal for its permanent location off Martha’s Vineyard on a barge that used a patented control system and cylinders that support a platform and actively compensate the motions of the barge.
Vineyard Wind's first turbine is installed
In mid-October, the successful installation of the first turbine was announced. The installation of five of its turbines moved the project closer to delivering power to the initial 30,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.
Also in October, Avangrid and Copenhagen signed the largest single asset tax equity financing package, the first such deal for a U.S. offshore wind project.
Getting started
In May, the project received the first shipment of project components at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal on board a ship from Portugal. Turbine installation began in September.
Vineyard Wind began offshore construction in late 2022, achieved steel-in-the-water in June, and completed the nation’s first offshore substation in July.
Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Massive offshore wind project advances out of its New Bedford base
