Washington, DC — Yesterday, the Vineyard Wind I project began generating clean, offshore wind power from its first turbine. Turn Forward celebrates this momentous occasion and those who made it possible: thousands of offshore wind workers, as well as community, state, federal and industry leaders. Once it finishes this year, Vineyard Wind will be the largest U.S. offshore wind project online.
“With its first power, Vineyard Wind is helping usher in a new era of U.S. clean energy, where offshore wind will deliver domestically-produced clean energy to American homes and businesses on a game-changing scale,” said Stephanie McClellan, Executive Director of Turn Forward. “This project has already created nearly 2,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in the local economy, and soon it will produce enough power for hundreds of thousands of homes. Vineyard Wind’s first power is a testament to the vision, commitment, and years of hard work by cross-sector leaders to bring this critically needed and transformational new clean energy source online.”
Vineyard Wind is an 806-megawatt project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. Once complete, the project will power over 400,000 Massachusetts homes and businesses, saving customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation and reducing carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road annually. The workers — nearly half of whom are in a union — are already experiencing the many benefits that offshore wind construction can deliver.
Offshore wind development is expected to create upwards of 77,000 good-paying jobs and power 10 million homes within the next decade. Thanks to the collaboration and leadership of local, state, and federal policymakers, Vineyard Wind will help Massachusetts reach its clean energy goals and help the U.S. further unlock domestic, clean, reliable energy.
Turn Forward is an independent, non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to advancing an ambitious vision for American offshore wind power that meets today’s climate, economic, equity and environmental challenges.
For media inquiries, please reach out to avery@turnforward.org