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Nine turbines in, 53 to go at the Vineyard Wind wind farm near Islands

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Energy from the Vineyard Wind 1 project is slowly increasing as turbines are added to the wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard and power is sent to the New England grid through Covell Beach in Centerville.

The project currently has nine turbines — out of 62 planned — that have begun energy production or are in the final stages of the commissioning process, Vineyard Wind spokesman Craig Gilvarg said.

As May arrives and “much more ideal weather conditions” are forecast, the project will resume installation of transition pieces in the project area.

“We are poised for a robust and productive turbine installation campaign in the coming months and look forward to working with the project’s skilled union workforce to realize more capacity from this historic project,” Gilvarg said.

The turbines will be used to generate energy from the wind blowing across the outer continental shelf, 15 miles south of the Vineyard and Nantucket.

What has happened to the project so far this year?

Vineyard Wind 1, a joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, touted as the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, has achieved a handful of milestones in the first five months of this year.

The company began testing the first of its turbines on January 2 by delivering a short-term power of about five megawatts to the mainland. By February 21, the first five turbines were fully commissioned after a series of similar tests for each turbine, which is part of the commissioning process. At that time, they continuously generated 68 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 30,000 homes.

At the end of February, a further four were installed and awaiting commissioning, a tenth was under construction, and the components of an eleventh turbine were being prepared for transport to site.

Executives have said they hope to have all 62 turbines operational by the end of the year, although that will depend on weather conditions.

How much power will Vineyard 1 produce?

Ultimately, Vineyard Wind 1 will produce 806 megawatts of power. That’s enough to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.

Once completed, the project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 1.6 million tonnes per year – which the company says is equivalent to taking 325,000 cars off the road annually.

How does offshore wind work?

The project generates power using General Electric Haliade-X turbines located one nautical mile apart in the Vineyard Wind 1 federal lease area.

Each turbine includes a monopile that anchors it to the seabed, topped by a transition piece on the surface, and then a tower with a nacelle and blades on top. Each blade is 107 meters long, or almost the length of a football field including the end zones (109.7 meters). The height of each turbine is approximately the same as three Statues of Liberty stacked on top of each other (approximately 250 meters), from the tip of the blade to the water’s surface.

According to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “wind turns the propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which produces electricity.” The power is collected by an offshore substation. It is then sent through pipes beneath the seabed, traveling at higher voltages than on land because it is more efficient. Onshore substations send the power through a series of transformers to reduce the voltage so that it is compatible with the capacity of the distribution lines.

What makes the area south of the islands so attractive for wind farms?

While offshore wind energy is just getting started in Massachusetts, the state is no stranger to wind energy. According to the state’s Renewable and Alternative Energy Division, there are more than 44 onshore wind farms in more than 30 communities, collectively generating more than 100 megawatts of power.

But when it comes to power generation capabilities, offshore wind energy is the real workhorse. In addition to the shallowness of the waters, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist Anthony Kirincich has noted that atmospheric conditions make the area south of the islands particularly attractive for energy production from wind power.

In certain places, the polar jet stream and the subtropical jet stream are contracting and accelerating as everything moves from west to east. The wind farm area near Massachusetts is a place where this type of convergence occurs, creating constant strong winds.

Heather McCarron can be reached at [email protected]

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