Iberdrola launches Vineyard Wind, its first offshore wind farm in the United States economy

Avangrid, the subsidiary of Iberdrola in the United States, has turned the page on the purchase of PNM Resources, which it definitively abandoned last Sunday. And it has done so with the launch of one of its most emblematic projects: the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm off the coast of New England in the north-east of the United States. The group headed by Ignacio Sánchez Galán owns 50% of the park together with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

The AvanGrid facility, developed by Danish company Ørsted for US power company Eversource, and another that went into operation off the coast of New York last month, are the first two large offshore wind farms to begin supplying electricity to the United States. The sector has, on the one hand, faced incentives for renewable energy promoted by Joe Biden’s government, but on the other hand, it has been hit by rising raw material costs, rising interest rates and problems. supply chain which led to the cancellation of some contracts.

“2023 was a historic year for offshore wind, marked by steel in the water and people at work. Today we start a new chapter and welcome 2024 by supplying the first clean offshore wind energy to the Massachusetts grid,” Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said in a statement. He stressed, “We have reached a defining moment for climate action in the United States and a dawn for the American offshore wind industry.”

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said, “This is a historic moment for the American offshore wind industry.” “Looking ahead, Massachusetts is moving toward energy independence because of our nation-leading work to build the offshore wind industry,” he said.

Entry into operations has so far been on a small scale. As part of the initial commissioning process, at 11:52 pm on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, one turbine provided approximately five megawatts of power, with additional testing both onshore and offshore expected in the coming weeks. The project hopes to have five turbines operating at full capacity soon.

Electricity from the projects is interconnected with the New England grid in Barnstable, transmitted by underground cables that connect to Cape Cod’s inland substation. Once completed, the project located approximately 25 kilometers off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard will include 62 wind turbines that will generate 806 megawatts (MW), enough to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.

According to Avangrid, the park will create 3,600 full-time equivalent jobs, save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons annually. year, the equivalent of removing 325,000 cars from circulation annually.

canceled contracts

In addition to 50% of Vineyard Wind, AvanGrid owns 100% of Commonwealth Wind (1,200 MW in Massachusetts), Park City Wind (804 MW in Connecticut), two of the most advanced offshore wind projects in the United States. Additionally, it is developing Kitty Hawk Wind, which has the potential to supply 3,500 megawatts to Virginia and North Carolina, enough energy to power one million homes and businesses in the region. The company has been indicating since 2022 that it is looking for partners for these projects, but the complex environment has made its incorporation difficult.

Avangrid last summer agreed to pay $48 million (about €44 million at current exchange rates) to break the energy marketing agreements of Commonwealth Wind, the largest offshore wind farm in New England with 1,200 MW. Its project was for. And there was an investment of Rs 4,000 million. Dollar. The company recognized that the project was not economically viable under the initially agreed terms and asked to renegotiate the contracts, but the electricity distributor closed out completely.

Similar cancellations of contracts by other companies have also happened in other states such as Connecticut and New Jersey. Also on Wednesday, Norwegian Equinor and British BP broke their deal to sell energy from their Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm to New York state, blaming rising inflation, rising interest rates and supply problems. Chain.

“Commercial feasibility is critical for ambitious projects of this size and scale. The decision on Empire Wind 2 provides an opportunity to realize and develop a stronger and more robust project for the future, Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables America, said in a statement.

Follow all information economy And Business In Facebook And xor in our weekly newspaper