Ferocious opponents of Cape Cod offshore wind have held their ground for decades. But, remarkably, the project is now underway for a 35-mile offshore transmission cable serving Vineyard Wind. The planned 62-turbine project in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard will connect to the south shore of central Cape Cod at Barnstable.
What changed?
Residents of the Barnstable community were initially reluctant to accept a 220 kilovolt line landing in their town. Would any security issues arise? Would property values be affected? Will the already stop-and-go summer traffic get any worse?
It took extensive public outreach – many hours of one-on-one Vineyard Wind Q&A sessions – to allay community concerns. A $16 million payout to the city didn’t hurt either.
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). Vineyard Wind 1 is described as the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. The project will use 62 General Electric Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines which will be connected to an offshore substation. This power will be transferred to two export cables that will reach Covell Beach and intersect with the grid at an indoor substation.
The company said that the 800 megawatt (MW) project, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 years of equivalent employment full-time (FTE), will save customers $1.4 billion in the first 20 years of operation, and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent to take 325,000 cars off the road each year.
What Vineyard Wind did differently
Cape Cod is a popular summer destination. With delicate sandy beaches and low waves in Nantucket Sound, families (mostly white) have traveled to the Cape for more than a century to bask in the sun, bask in the waves, eat lobster and watch the sunset. of the sun.
Somehow, the idyllic scene seemed to collide with a vision of wind turbines spinning in the distance. Specifically, a host of vocal residents balked at the idea of offshore wind turbines altering the view from their summer homes. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) was one such naysayer: He battled Cape Cod’s offshore wind from his Hyannis Harbor resort when the idea first surfaced.
Of course, as with many renewable energy projects, the Vineyard Wind project was met with opposition. Lawsuits seeking to stop the project have been filed by commercial fishermena group concerned about the plight of the North American population right whale, and one solar developer with a second home on Martha’s Vineyard.
Planning for the transmission cable landing was difficult from the start. Vineyard Wind has scrapped plans for a cable landing in another central Cape Cod town of Yarmouth after community tensions seemed insurmountable.
Vineyard Wind has set up a Get to Know Us tent on Barnstable Beach so that a convenient and friendly public face of the company can be available to answer questions from residents. The company also sent representatives to neighborhoods as a one-on-one opportunity to speak to community members who had questions. The time it took to assuage community concerns took a lot of work, and it paid off.
The Association to preserve Cape Cod, one of the region’s leading environmental organizations, has supported Vineyard Wind in its mission to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The developer’s approach to interacting with community members about project impacts also helped.
In 2021, local Barnstable officials signed with Vineyard Wind, a crucial milestone in local site agreements – one of the biggest challenges facing renewable energy development. Shortly after, they welcomed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) and representatives from Vineyard Wind to the oceanfront for a groundbreaking ceremony at Covell’s Beach in Barnstable, the site where two cables will make landfall and begin their journey to generate electricity on Cape Cod. Through horizontal drilling below the beach, the offshore transmission cable will connect to a landline extending over 5 miles to a substation inland.
“Barnstable has taken the leap, and we’ve risen to the occasion,” said Matthew Levesque, chairman of Barnstable City Council. E&E News. “It’s a very special day, and it draws a line in the sand, marking a new beginning, literally.”
The Vineyard Wind project at Barnstable continue on in the summer of 2022. Following the laying of the cable, the Town of Barnstable and Vineyard Wind are collaborating on a long-awaited sewer improvement project, saving the town millions of dollars. Secondary benefits for the city have so far included:
- excavate the streets and allow the simultaneous installation of cables and sewer pipes
- replacement of a municipal parking lot and a public bath at the beach
- pay the cost of opening up the roadway to install the underground overland transmission cable, allowing Barnstable to initiate an update to the sewerage system
Under the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Southeast Massachusetts Building Trades, work on the site uses local union labor. The PLA ensures that at least 500 of the jobs created during the construction phase of the project will be filled by local artisans and includes aggressive hiring targets for women and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
Research on environmental impacts continues behind the scenes. Vineyard Wind embarked on a multi-year collaboration with the University of New Hampshire to deploy a Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) device to record ambient sounds and vocalizations of marine mammal species in the concession area. The monitoring device will record underwater sounds at least 30 days before the start of offshore construction and will remain active for at least 3 years of operation and maintenance (O&M).
Final Thoughts on Cape Cod Offshore Wind
If all goes according to plan, Massachusetts will begin to be powered by wind turbines about 35 miles off the coast for the first time. In offshore wind, which is well established overseas but just starting to take off in the United States, “it’s a huge challenge,” said Jennifer Cullen, senior manager of labor relations and development at workforce at Vineyard Wind. Market. Many local union electricians and ironworkers hope to be hired to help build Vineyard Wind.
The success of the Vineyard Wind 1 project has the potential to open public perception to other renewable energy projects. Like Massachusetts, states across the United States are moving slowly but methodically to help communities transition to clean energy.
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