Vineyard Wind has confirmed the selection of GE Renewable Energy as the preferred turbine supplier for its 800MW offshore wind project off Massachusetts in the US.
The manufacturer has been lined up to supply Haliade-X units following a relaunched tender for the delayed project, as first reported exclusively by reNEWS earlier on Tuesday.
Around 60 turbines are expected to feature at the wind farm, which is being developed by the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables joint venture.
MHI Vestas had been preferred supplier with 9.5MW-rated machines until that deal lapsed earlier this year due to a permitting hold-up.
The GE hardware will sit atop monopile foundations 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard. The foundations are currently being redesigned for the larger machines.
“The selection of GE as our preferred turbine supplier means that a historic American company will play a vital role in the development of the first commercial scale offshore wind power in the US,” said Vineyard Wind chief executive Lars Pedersen.
“This is a huge moment not only for the future of our project, but also for the future of an industry that is poised for exponential growth in the coming decades.”
As a part of the selection, Vineyard Wind has decided to temporarily withdraw its Construction and Operations Plan from further review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The move will allow the project team to conduct a final technical review associated with the inclusion of the Haliade-X into the final project design.
This information was formally communicated to BOEM on Tuesday.
“While the decision to pause the ongoing process was difficult, taking this step now avoids potentially more federal delays and we are convinced it will provide the shortest overall timeline for delivering the project as planned,” added Pedersen.
“We intend to restart the BOEM process from where we left off as soon as we complete the final review.”
The company expects its review to take several weeks, after which Vineyard Wind will resume the federal permitting process with BOEM.
Vineyard Wind expects to reach financial close in the second half of 2021 and to begin delivering clean energy to Massachusetts in 2023.
“GE Renewable Energy is proud to partner with Vineyard Wind for the first major offshore wind project in the US,” said John Lavelle, GE Renewable Energy offshore boss.
“To be selected as the preferred supplier is an important sign of confidence for our proven technology and for all our employees around the world. We look forward to making this important contribution to the growth of offshore wind in the US.”