Avangrid unveils Vineyard Wind 1 offshore substation

Avangrid, a leading sustainable energy company and part of the Iberdrola Group, has unveiled the first offshore wind substation at its Vineyard Wind 1 project, the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the US.

Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind 1 offshore substation will collect power generated by the project’s 62 wind turbine generators and bring it to the onshore power grid through two export cables.

Vineyard Wind 1 is expected to deliver power before the end of this year and, once completed, the facility will generate 806MW of clean, renewable energy to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.

According to Avangrid, the substation is the first one ever installed in the US and the sixth and largest in the Iberdrola Group’s global fleet to date.

So far, Iberdrola has installed five other substations at its West of Duddon Sands (UK), Wikinger (Germany), East Anglia One (UK), St. Brieuc (France), and Baltic Eagle (Germany) offshore wind farms.

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“This marks another exciting milestone as we move closer to delivering offshore wind power to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO.

“We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to showcase the hard work our team has been putting in behind the scenes to make Vineyard Wind 1 a reality. This project is pioneering the offshore wind industry for the United States and paving the way for the country’s clean energy future.”

Vineyard Wind has signed a contract with Prysmian Group worth 200 million euros to manufacture, install and commission the submarine cabling system that will connect the offshore wind farm with the Continental US power transmission grid.

According to Iberdrola, the project will require a total of 134 kilometres of high voltage alternating current electric cable.

US company Southwire was selected as the main supplier of terrestrial cables. More than 51 kilometres of high voltage cable was scheduled for installation during the first quarter of 2023. The cable is manufactured at the Southwire plant in Huntersville (North Carolina), and uses avant-garde technology to produce high and extra-high-voltage cables ranging from 69 kV to 500 kV.