Vineyard Wind Begins Cable Installation Near Martha's Vineyard

CAPE COD, MA — Cable installation for the United State's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm has begun some 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard, Vineyard Wind, the company approved to build the wind farm, announced recently.

The company also announced that it expects to begin nearshore cable work off the south coast of Cape Cod in the coming days. Prysmian Group, the same company that recently announced plans to build the first U.S.-based offshore wind subsea cable factory in Somerset, Massachusetts, is conducting the work.

The project, located approximately 15 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, will have a generating capacity of 800 megawatts and provide enough clean electricity to power over 400,000 homes.

“For a project that has achieved many firsts, the beginning of offshore cable installation is perhaps the most significant we have achieved so far,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Moeller, in a statement.

“To get to this point has required an amazing effort by the Vineyard Wind team and we are proud to work with Prysmian, a company with world class experience dedicated to creating jobs in Massachusetts. I want to thank all the local, state, and federal government agencies, which have been essential in thoroughly reviewing this project over the past five years and allowing us to reach this milestone.”

The Vineyard Wind project will involve the installation of 32 miles of high-voltage cables buried up to six feet under the sea floor. From there, the cables will connect to a substation and feed into a grid system that will be ready to provide power from approximately 62 GE turbines.

The turbines, each capable of generating 13 megawatts of power, are set to be installed starting in 2023, according to an earlier Patch report.

During the project, fishing vessels will work alongside employees installing the cables to ensure communication between fishermen and other mariners, the company said.

This extends to work Vineyard Wind is set to begin nearshore at Covell’s Beach in Barnstable, where officials will also "employ fishing vessels to facilitate good communication with other local fishermen," the company said.

That work is set to begin "in the coming weeks."

The $2.8 billion project is a step towards the Biden Administration's goal to expand renewable energy production. It's expected to reduce electricity rates by $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.68 million metric tons annually.

The Biden administration approved the project in 2021.

Read more: Biden Administration Approves Vineyard Wind Project