Iberdrola launches the largest offshore wind farm in the United States, with 806 MW of capacity

MADRID, 4 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Iberdrola has begun commissioning the 'Vineyard Wind I' offshore wind farm, the first large-scale project of this technology in the United States, with 806 megawatts (MW) of capacity, the company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán reported this Thursday. .

Specifically, the facility has already begun to supply green energy to Massachusetts, a State that will supply wind electricity to more than 400,000 homes, which represents more than half of a city like Boston or the entire island of Mallorca, the company highlighted. company.

The project, which expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity in the first stages of the year, has had 3,000 million dollars of investment (more than 2,700 million euros at the current exchange rate) guaranteed through contracts with the three main electrical companies in the State. .

The park began construction in 2021 and will be fully operational this year, avoiding the emission of more than 1.6 million tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of removing 325,000 vehicles from the roads.

Each of the turbines, whose transition pieces have been manufactured by the Asturian company Windar Renovables, will provide energy to more than 6,000 homes and companies.

Made up of a tower, three blades and a nacelle, they have a nominal capacity of 13 megawatts (MW), "which makes it the largest turbine in the Western world," according to Iberdrola, which added that, with a With a single rotation, this turbine can power a Massachusetts home for an entire day.

"We are delivering the first clean offshore wind power to the Massachusetts grid. We are at a defining moment for climate action in the United States and are experiencing a dawn for the country's offshore wind industry. As the capacity of this historic project is as it gets underway, we will continue to support all the partners who have made this achievement possible," stressed Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid, the US subsidiary of Iberdrola.

Avangrid and the Danish investment group Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), co-owner of the project, announced last October that 'Vineyard Wind 1' had closed a fiscal capital package worth 1.2 billion dollars (about 1.135 million euros) , this being the first of its kind for commercial-scale offshore wind energy with three banks based in the United States.

The Spanish company Windar Renovables has been in charge of manufacturing the 62 foundations of the wind turbines. The contract, for an amount close to 100 million euros, has led to the creation of nearly 400 jobs at its facilities in Asturias.

For its part, the Italian Prysmian Group has been responsible for the implementation of the submarine cable system that connects the offshore wind farm with the continental United States electrical grid. In total, more than 134 kilometers of high-voltage alternating current electrical cable have been required.

The American company Southwire, for its part, has been responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of more than 51 kilometers of terrestrial high-voltage cable.

In July 2023, the installation of the marine substation was completed, which will serve the entire Vineyard Wind I project. It is the first substation of this type installed by Iberdrola in the United States and the sixth in the world, with a weight greater than 5,000 tons, which makes it the largest that the company has installed in its history.

IBERDROLA ENSURES COMPLIANCE WITH ITS PLAN BY 2025

Within Iberdrola's renewable portfolio, offshore wind energy is one of the company's big bets, with new growth platforms in Poland, Sweden, Ireland, the United States, Brazil, the Philippines and Japan, which has allowed it to have currently with an offshore wind portfolio of more than 30 gigawatts (GW).

In this way, the company is assured of compliance with its plan by 2025, when it will reach 3,100 MW in operation.

Among the company's most notable projects, in addition to 'Vineyard Wind I', the 'East Anglia Hub' complex stands out in the United Kingdom, which contains three projects with a total installed capacity of 2,900 MW, Saint-Brieuc, in France, or its three parks in Baltic waters: Wikinger, Baltic Eagle and Windanker.