There were hours of hearings, years of permitting, bluster in Washington, embarrassing mechanical failures and lawsuits galore. But after more than a decade of planning and construction, the nation’s first two large-scale offshore wind energy farms have reached full commercial operation off the Vineyard’s coast.
Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind announced last week that all 127 of their combined turbines are now operational, bringing the promise of enough electricity to supply hundreds of thousands of homes in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
For supporters, the milestone demonstrates that, despite opposition from the Trump administration, offshore projects remain viable and can play a significant role in bringing more renewable energy sources to New England.
“In the last several years, we have had a lot of worrisome backsliding when it comes to the climate crisis,” said state Sen. Julian Cyr, one of the Island’s representatives on Beacon Hill and a vocal supporter of offshore wind energy. “These projects show what’s possible.”
For opponents, though, the spinning turbines are a towering testament to the industrialization of the Atlantic. Mike Lombardi, the president of Green Oceans, a nonprofit that has been fighting offshore wind development, said politicians had previously talked about not developing important fishing areas such as Cox’s Ledge.
“Yet, here we are with projects atop this very area,” he said, referring to Revolution Wind.
Despite the years of effort it took to reach this point, the announcements for the buildouts were relatively understated – a tactic wind developers have taken in recent years as the industry has increasingly become a target of the Trump administration.
Vineyard Wind spokesman Craig Gilvarg confirmed that the project, which will supply power to the regional grid in Massachusetts, reached full commercial operations on Oct. 29, but declined to say anything more.
Revolution Wind’s completion was announced by its parent company, Orsted, during an investor call on November 5. CEO Rasmus Errboe said the project is beginning to fulfill its power purchase agreements to supply electricity to Rhode Island and Connecticut.
“The project will supply enough electricity to power more than 350,000 homes and businesses,” he said. “This is a major milestone, and I’m very pleased with the resilience and efforts that the team has demonstrated to achieve this.”
The waters around the Vineyard have been eyed for decades as one of the premier locations for offshore wind in the U.S., and have even been referred to as the “Saudi Arabia of wind.”
In 2010, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management – the federal agency tasked with overseeing the rollout of the new industry – began seeking industry interest in the area. Two years later, the agency designated an 826,241-acre wind energy area and began the process that would eventually lead to commercial leases.
Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind’s predecessor – Deepwater Wind New England – scooped up two of the areas and then moved on to permitting. Vineyard Wind, a partnership between foreign renewable energy companies Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid, got approval to build turbines about 14 miles off the Island in 2021. It was the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S. to get federal approval.
Revolution Wind, which started out as a partnership between Danish developer Orsted and U.S. energy supplier Eversource before the latter pulled out, received the signoff from the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2023 to erect 65 turbines to the southwest of Aquinnah.
Though other projects were completed before them, including the five-turbine Block Island wind farm and 12-turbine South Fork Wind off New York, Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind are now the largest offshore wind energy projects in the U.S., boasting 62 and 65 turbines respectively.
But the projects were controversial from the start on the Vineyard, where they can be seen from the south shore. Fishermen worried about what the addition of the turbines could do to the ecosystem, while others just didn’t want to see them from the beach.
They also became the target of numerous lawsuits, and some of the initial test cases for the offshore wind permitting process. Thomas Melone, an Edgartown seasonal homeowner and president of a solar energy company, claimed the approvals for Vineyard Wind violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act. He lost that case and subsequent appeals.
A group of Nantucket residents argued that the permitting for Vineyard Wind didn’t adequately consider the impacts on the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, an argument that also didn’t gain traction in the courts.
Revolution Wind faced lawsuits from a nonprofit that owned historic seaside mansions in Rhode Island, and from the advocacy group Green Oceans, which has a number of supporters on Martha’s Vineyard.
The projects emerged relatively unscathed from those challenges, but came up against major headwinds in recent years.
Vineyard Wind suffered arguably the most public failure to date for the nascent industry when one of its blades snapped in July 2024, scattering debris in the ocean. The company attributed the failure to a manufacturing defect, and several other blades had to be removed for fear of a similar problem.
The malfunction kicked off a fight between Vineyard Wind and the manufacturer of the blades, GE Vernova, which threatened to terminate its agreement to finish the project. That resulted in another lawsuit over payment owed. The two settled the dispute in September.
Revolution Wind, meanwhile, became cannon fodder for the Trump administration. In August 2025, federal officials ordered construction to halt, citing national security concerns. A court later issued an injunction against that order.
In December 2025, the Department of the Interior announced another suspension affecting Revolution Wind, Vineyard Wind, and three other offshore projects, citing more alleged threats to national security.
The courts again intervened, construction continued, and Revolution Wind started to deliver power this spring.
That both the Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind projects were able to not only get through construction but also get to full operations was welcome news to electric suppliers as New England heads into winter.
“This significant milestone comes at a critical time for our region where extreme temperatures have underscored how important it is to bring every potential energy source online for customers,” said Eversource CEO Joseph Nolan during an earnings call last week. “[Revolution Wind] adds essential new supply that enhances grid reliability, meets growing demand and ensures dependable power when our customers need it most.”
Between July and September, Vineyard Wind produced 336,382 megawatt-hours of electricity, according to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. During that span, Revolution Wind, which has more turbines but a smaller overall capacity, generated 314,321 megawatt-hours.
Both projects are expected to create more power now that they have reached commercial operation on the cusp of the windy season.
Katie Segal, the senior offshore wind director for the Massachusetts Environmental League, sees this as a win for the Bay State.
“Prices will come down,” she said. “The wind itself is free, unlike fossil fuel, which is variable in price.”
Getting two of the nation’s biggest projects online will also be a boon for other developers, who will be able to study how wind farms pan out on the water.
“I think having these two projects will only give us more and more data, and real-time information on what’s working and what can improve,” Ms. Segal said. “These two are really paving the way for Massachusetts and New England projects in a positive way.”
But other developers hoping to build off the Vineyard will likely be several years behind Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind.
On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum halting new federal offshore wind leasing and directing agencies to pause certain permitting activity. A federal district court later vacated the order.
The administration has also tried to persuade developers to abandon existing offshore leases, offering financial settlements in exchange.
“There’s no denying that [offshore wind energy] is facing particular challenges with this administration,” said Anxhela Mile, a staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has been fighting on behalf of the industry in court.
With the Democrats’ big wins in the midterms last week, wind energy could gain more political support, but getting any new projects over the finish line will likely continue to be difficult under President Donald Trump, according to Ms. Mile. That could scare away some investors to other countries, such as China, that are embracing the technology. Still, there are opportunities for expansion in the U.S.
“We might not have new projects in the next two years, but there’s still a lot of work states can do for construction in ports,” Ms. Mile said.
Even Revolution Wind could face future legal uncertainty. Last month, the Department of the Interior asked a federal court to remand federal approval for the project so it could be reconsidered by the agency. The Interior claimed that its own reasoning for approval, done under the Biden Administration, wasn’t adequate enough to justify signing off on the project.
“Where the administrative record does not support the agency’s determination, the ordinary course is remand to the agency for further evaluation and explanation,” the department’s attorney wrote in an Oct. 9 filing.
While Revolution’s battles continue, activity will likely start to ramp up soon at Vineyard Wind’s operations and maintenance headquarters on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven.
Vineyard Wind staff previously said that the building would be the central hub for the 62 turbines, with several dozen maintenance and operation employees expected to be stationed there to keep things spinning.
The building has a massive warehouse for turbine parts, as well as offices and a control room. Across the street, Vineyard Wind maintains a dock on Vineyard Haven harbor for boats that will shepherd workers to and from the turbines.
Mr. Gilvarg, the Vineyard Wind spokesman, did not respond to requests for interviews or information about what Islanders should expect to see at the facility.
For Mr. Cyr, who was voted into office the year after Vineyard Wind won its 167,000-acre lease, the completion of the two projects was a sign that Massachusetts is starting to shift into becoming a power producer ahead of its goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
“We are going to shift from being a net energy importer to being able to power our communities regionally, and doing it largely with renewable energy,” he said. “I’m heartenedthat we are taking action here.”