Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), has become the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the US to reach financial close. The project has closed on an aggregate of around $2.3bn of construction and term loan financing with nine global lending banks.
Financial close enables the 800 MW project to commence construction this autumn to begin delivering power to Massachusetts in 2023.
In May, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a favorable record of decision, the major federal permit required for construction. Since receiving the green light, the project has successfully received all necessary permits and entered into a project labour agreement with the Massachusetts Building Trades for construction.
“Today’s milestone demonstrates the financial community’s confidence in Vineyard Wind 1 and Avangrid’s sustainability strategy, and more broadly, the US offshore wind industry,” said Dennis Arriola, CEO of Avangrid.
The Vineyard wind farm will be located some 24 km off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, and will provide enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. According to Avangrid, the project will create 3,600 jobs, reduce electricity rates by $1.4bn over the first 20 years of operation and should reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6m tonnes per year.
