Copenhagen Infrastructure Companions (CIP) and Avangrid stated the Winery Wind 1 offshore wind set up despatched electrical energy to the ability grid for the primary time late on Jan. 2. The businesses on Jan. 3 stated Winery Wind 1, as a part of its preliminary commissioning, delivered about 5 MW of electrical energy to the New England grid at 11:52 p.m. native time on Tuesday.
Winery Wind is a three way partnership between Avangrid, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Spanish power big Iberdrola, and CIP, a Danish infrastructure funding group that focuses on renewable power, significantly wind energy.
Testing of generators and transmission techniques for the challenge, each onshore and offshore, will proceed for the subsequent a number of weeks. Officers stated a minimum of 5 of the challenge’s generators are anticipated to be working at full capability within the subsequent few months. Building of the 806-MW set up, situated 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Winery and Nantucket, and about 35 miles off the coast of mainland Massachusetts, is continuous, and when full the challenge will characteristic 62 Common Electrical Haliade-X generators, every rising about 800 toes out of the water and able to producing 13 MW of energy.
‘Historic Second’
“This can be a historic second for the American offshore wind trade,” stated Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. “Quickly, Winery Wind can be producing energy equal to over 400,000 Massachusetts households. That is clear, reasonably priced power made doable by the various advocates, public servants, union staff, and enterprise leaders who labored for many years to perform this achievement. As we glance forward, Massachusetts is on a path towards power independence because of our nation-leading work to face up the offshore wind trade.”
Offshore building of Winery Wind started in late 2022. The primary metal within the water occurred in June of final 12 months, and the primary offshore energy substation within the U.S. was accomplished in July 2023.
“This really is a milestone for offshore wind and the whole renewable trade in North America. For the primary time we now have energy flowing to the American shoppers from a commercial-scale wind challenge, which marks the daybreak of a brand new period for American renewables and the inexperienced transition,” stated Tim Evans, associate at CIP and Head of North America.“By delivering first energy, we now have damaged new floor and proven a viable path ahead with energy that’s renewable, regionally produced, and reasonably priced. A lot of the credit score for this milestone should go to our native companions, labor leaders and the challenge’s expert union workforce, and native communities from New Bedford to Barnstable.”
“2023 was a historic 12 months outlined by metal within the water and folks at work. In the present day, we start a brand new chapter and welcome 2024 by delivering the primary clear offshore wind energy to the grid in Massachusetts,” stated Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra. “We’ve arrived at a watershed second for local weather motion within the U.S., and a daybreak for the American offshore wind trade. As we construct on this large progress and work to ship the complete capability of this historic challenge, we proceed to face proudly with all of the companions that made this achievement doable, together with the Biden administration and the Healey-Driscoll administration.”
Energy Supply
Electrical energy from Winery Wind 1 is being delivered through two submarine cables put in alongside a route from the offshore substation to the touchdown level onshore at Covell’s Seaside in Barnstable, Mass. The submarine cables are buried as much as six toes beneath the seafloor utilizing a jetplow.
Officers stated the cable route was chosen after in depth geological surveys of the realm to keep away from delicate habitats. The onshore cables are buried beneath public roadways, and connect with an onshore substation in Hyannis, Mass., on Cape Cod. The onshore facility is adjoining to an present Eversource substation.
“I congratulate Winery Wind on this vital, hard-won milestone, demonstrating but once more that offshore wind in America is actual, and that the Port of New Bedford is well-suited to assist the trade,” stated New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, whose city is house to Winery Wind’s company places of work. “This can be a nice option to kick off 2024.”
First energy from Winery Wind comes a couple of month after South Fork Wind, a 132-MW offshore wind challenge close to Lengthy Island, New York, started producing electrical energy. Danish wind power developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource on Dec. 6 stated South Fork Wind, situated about 35 miles east of Montauk Level, was producing energy from the primary of what’s going to finally be 12 working generators.
The primary U.S. offshore wind farm, Block Island, started working in 2017. That small, 30-MW challenge off the coast of Rhode Island makes use of 5 6-MW GE Haliade mannequin generators.
U.S. Offshore Wind Trade
The U.S. offshore wind trade has developed far more slowly than elsewhere on this planet, suffering from allowing and building delays. Environmental considerations and provide chain disruptions (partly because of the pandemic) additionally introduced adverse impacts.
The U.S. East Coast has skilled many of the growth, led by New York (promised growth of 9 GW by 2035) and New Jersey (11 GW by 2040). Different states up and down the East Coast even have growth plans, although some initiatives have been canceled and others delayed. Equinor, the Norwegian power main, on Jan. 3 introduced it will terminate its Offshore Wind Renewable Vitality Certificates (OREC) settlement with New York for the 1,260-MW Empire Wind 2 challenge. The corporate in a information launch cited “industrial circumstances pushed by inflation, rates of interest and provide chain disruptions that prevented Empire Wind 2’s present OREC settlement from being viable.”
The most important U.S. challenge proposed to this point, a 2.6-GW set up close to Virginia Seaside, Virginia, was authorized by the Biden administration in October of final 12 months. Dominion Vitality’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Mission will characteristic 176 generators and is anticipated to start producing energy by 2026.
Improvement additionally has been mentioned for the Gulf of Mexico, and alongside the U.S. West Coast.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior affiliate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).
