The amount of offshore wind generating capacity under construction or planned in the United States is in flux after two projects in New Jersey were cancelled last year. Of the 7,200 MW of capacity reported in May in the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, projects totalling about 2,400 MW have been cancelled since last December, while others totalling 4,800 MW remain active in various stages of development.
In late 2023, developer Ørsted cancelled the 2,400 MW Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects in New Jersey, citing rising interest rates, high inflation, and supply chain delays.
One offshore wind project is currently under construction, and another is awaiting commercial operation. Both projects are expected to begin operation in 2024. The 130 MW South Fork Wind project is awaiting commercial operation. It consists of 12 turbines located off the coast of Long Island, New York. The project began generating electricity in March but has yet to reach commercial operation, a stage when an operator formally declares a generating unit as online and available for commercial dispatch. It is not unusual for electric generators to produce energy while they conduct tests for weeks or months ahead of the facility being placed into commercial operation.
The project under construction is the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 project located offshore of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and it is partially built. Of the 62 turbines, 10 were in place as of this past February according to the project’s co-owner Avangrid. The complete project is expected to be online by this autumn.
Two projects have started building foundations to support offshore wind turbines. This past spring, developers Ørsted and Eversource started building the monopiles to support wind turbines at the 704 MW Revolution Wind project located offshore of Rhode Island. In May, Dominion Energy built the first monopile at the 1,265 MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) Commercial Project. The CVOW Commercial Project follows a 12 MW pilot that Dominion brought online in 2021.
Although these projects have started foundational work, Revolution Wind and CVOW Commercial Project still show as pending regulatory approvals and not yet in construction because generators have latitude to decide when to label a project as in construction. In the Form 860M, some generators label a project as in construction when they start building components, but other generators can wait until the construction process is further along. Revolution Wind is expected online in the autumn of 2025, while Dominion Energy plans to start CVOW in early 2027.
The 924 MW Sunrise Wind project is one of two active projects that New York State awarded in February, and developers Ørsted and Eversource expect to bring it online in 2026. Equinor has yet to report to EIA the second active project, the 810 MW Empire Wind 1, as a planned project.
Other projects in Maryland and Ohio, which developers still report as active, have faced some setbacks.
In January, Ørsted withdrew from commitments to the Maryland Public Service Commission to build the Skipjack 1 and 2 projects, totalling 966 MW, but is still continuing with advanced development and permitting.
Late last year, the developer of the 20 MW Icebreaker Wind project on the Ohio coast of Lake Erie halted the project amid rising costs and loss of funding.
