Vineyard Wind 2 project in jeopardy with Connecticut withdrawal

Connecticut state officials withdrew their planned offtake purchase of 400 megawatts from the future Vineyard Wind 2 expansion Dec. 20, threatening the 1,200 MW project that was based on plans for Massachusetts and Connecticut to split its energy production. 

That news came hours after the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced its approval of the SouthCoast Wind project, on an adjoining lease to Vineyard Wind. 

Nantucket municipal officials said last week that turbine blade installations had resumed on the Vineyard Wind 1 lease Dec. 14, after five months of oversight by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, lengthy inspections and removal of some blades stemming from a catastrophic failure on one turbine July 13.

 The breakdown on Vineyard’s turbine was followed by reports of manufacturing defects and falsified testing data at the LM Wind Power plant in Gaspé, Quebec where turbine blades were built for GE Vernova. The Vineyard Wind venture seems headed for yet another setback, with Connecticut officials’ decision to opt out of a power purchase from the developers’ second phase.

The Dec. 20 state decision instead opted for 518 MW of new solar generation and 200 MW of new electric storage capacity, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. 

“DEEP has also closed its solicitation for offshore wind resources without selecting any bid,” the agency said in a brief statement. “While DEEP did not select an offshore wind project in the multi-state RFP, we applaud the offshore wind selections made by Massachusetts and Rhode Island earlier this year.”

“Connecticut remains committed to offshore wind, a critical source of energy supply that is helping to reduce emissions, improve grid reliability, bolster our energy supply, and support economic development in our state and region.”