The nation’s first major offshore wind farm, the under-construction Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts, has shown up in an important, if obscure, location.
The project is one of more than 900 energy sources of various types (including batteries and demand reduction) who won bids to receive payments in the annual forward capacity auction, which is used by ISO-New England to ensure that there will be enough electricity to meet regional demand in three years. Bidders receive payments in return for guaranteeing they can produce a certain amount of power on demand.
Vineyard Wind won bids to guarantee production of 235 megawatts starting in June 2026 and 495 megawatts as of October 2026. Its annual capacity payments will exceed $2.5 million; it will also be paid per-kilowatt for electricity that it produces.
Vineyard Wind isn’t the first offshore wind farm to be in New England’s capacity auction; Block Island Wind off Rhode Island has been in the program for several years. But when its construction is finished, probably this year, Vineyard Wind will be more than 25 times the size of Block Island, marking America’s long-overdue entry into the global offshore-wind industry.
Return to the Concord Monitor