Construction on the Vineyard Wind offshore project in Massachusetts has been completed, marking it as the first major offshore wind farm to reach this stage during President Trump's tenure. The final blades were installed Friday night, according to Craig Gilvarg, a spokesperson for the project.
Key Takeaways
Construction has been completed on the Vineyard Wind offshore project in Massachusetts, marking the first major offshore wind farm to reach this stage during President Trump's tenure. The project includes 62 turbines capable of powering about 400,000 homes.
- Construction finished on Vineyard Wind with installation of final blades
- Project is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
- Trump administration halted construction citing national security concerns, but federal judges allowed resumption
- Revolution Wind also began delivering power to New England’s electric grid
The Vineyard Wind project is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. It consists of 62 turbines that will generate a total of 800 megawatts, enough clean electricity to power about 400,000 homes.
President Trump, who has often expressed his dislike for wind power, aimed to prevent the construction of any “windmills.” Vineyard Wind was one of five major East Coast offshore wind projects that the Trump administration halted days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. However, developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five projects to resume construction, concluding that the government did not demonstrate an imminent national security risk.
Another project, Revolution Wind, began sending power for the first time to New England’s electric grid on Friday and will scale up in the coming weeks until it is fully operational. Vineyard Wind has been delivering power for over a year as more turbines were completed. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell emphasized the importance of this project in lowering costs, meeting energy demand, advancing climate goals, and sustaining thousands of good-paying jobs.
The Trump administration criticized the Vineyard Wind project due to a blade failure that occurred in July 2024. Fiberglass fragments from a blade broke apart and washed onto Nantucket beaches during the peak tourist season. Manufacturer GE Vernova agreed to pay $10.5 million in a settlement to compensate affected island businesses.
Vineyard Wind submitted state and federal project plans in 2017, with Massachusetts committing to offshore wind by requiring utilities to solicit proposals for up to 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2027. Federal regulators delayed the project in 2019 by withholding a key environmental impact statement, which Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) claimed was an attempt by the Trump administration to stymie the renewable energy project.
The Biden administration approved the project in 2021 as part of its efforts to ramp up offshore wind as a climate change solution. Construction began onshore in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The first U.S. offshore wind farm opened off Rhode Island’s Block Island in 2016, but it was not commercial-scale. The nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind, opened in March 2024 during President Biden's tenure.
Trump has been reversing the country’s energy policies since his first day in office, focusing on boosting oil, gas, and coal. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated that Trump reversed course on Joe Biden’s green energy agenda to unleash reliable and affordable energy sources, aiming to lower energy bills, improve grid stability, and protect national security.
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