Vineyard Wind delivers power to New England grid for first time

At 11:52PM on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, Massachusetts’ electric grid got its first energy from offshore wind.

Approximately five megawatts of power from the Vineyard Wind project was added to the regional grid as part of the initial commissioning process. Additional testing expected to happen both on and offshore in the coming weeks.  The project developers expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity early in 2024. Once complete, the offshore wind farm, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind is ultimately expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts, nearly doubling the commonwealth’s renewable energy output.

“Since campaigning for Cape Wind in the early 2000s, I’ve been eagerly waiting for the day when Massachusetts begins to harvest the immense renewable energy resource blowing off our coast,” said Johanna Neumann, Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America Research & Policy Center. “On January 2nd, that is finally happening.”

For more on Massachusetts’ offshore wind potential, check out Offshore Wind for America.