America’s offshore wind industry achieved a historic milestone late Friday when the country’s first major sea-based wind project completed construction and a second one announced it had begun generating electricity.
Officials for Vineyard Wind said the last blades had been installed on the 62-turbine project, located south of Massachusetts. Minutes later, Revolution Wind announced it had begun sending power from the 65-turbine project to customers in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The news marks the culmination of a two-decade push to build offshore wind in the shallow waters south of New England. It comes amid fierce resistance from President Donald Trump, whose administration has attempted to stop construction of both projects, and as the rising cost of energy has become a focus of voters.
The milestone represents a major win for New England, a region that has struggled to build renewable energy projects despite boasting some of the country’s most ambitious climate goals. The two wind farms immediately became the largest renewable energy projects in operation east of the Mississippi River. They will generate enough electricity to power 750,000 homes once they become fully operational.
“On Friday evening, with the installation of the final blades, Vineyard Wind completed its offshore construction program. Vineyard Wind continues to deliver power to the New England grid,” Vineyard Wind spokesperson Craig Gilvarg said in a statement.
Vineyard Wind was awarded a contract in 2017 to sell electricity to Massachusetts, a deal that made it a cornerstone of the Bay State’s efforts to cut planet-warming pollution and curb its reliance on natural gas. That contract came within months of Cape Wind, an ambitious project that became a lightning rod for opponents, abandoning its 20-year effort to install 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound. It faced high-profile resistance from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, the conservative businessman Bill Koch and the news anchor Walter Cronkite, all of whom objected to the idea of looking at turbines in the ocean.
Vineyard Wind launched a new era for offshore wind in America. Unlike Cape Wind, which was proposed in waters between Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod, it would be located south of the islands where fewer people could see it. It was also substantially cheaper, with a 20-year contract to sell electricity at an average price of roughly $70 per megawatt-hour. The deal sparked a wave of proposals to build offshore wind projects up and down the Atlantic Coast. The Biden administration later adopted those plans as part of its efforts to green the economy and create a new generation of clean energy jobs.
New England’s leaders hoped the two projects would herald a new chapter for the six-state electric grid. Natural gas provides about half of the region’s power, but New England’s limited pipeline capacity led to concerns that it could face supply shortages when gas demand spikes in the winter. Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind will have a combined capacity of 1,500 MW, nearly equal to the 1,700 MW of onshore wind capacity installed across the region today.
“This is a significant moment for the state’s clean energy landscape, over eight years in the making since the multi-state offshore wind procurement efforts began,” said Chris Kearns, the acting commissioner of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, said in a statement. “Revolution Wind will provide a valuable new resource to our energy system, deliver important emission reductions and further diversify our state and region’s energy generation portfolio.”
Amanda Dasch, chief development officer at Ørsted, which is building Revolution Wind, said the project would increase the region’s electricity supplies at a time when power demand is growing.
“Revolution Wind is adding affordable, reliable American-made energy to New England’s grid, helping to meet growing energy demand and lower consumer costs,” she said. “By producing more power here at home, we reduce dependence on imports, create local jobs, and support long-term economic growth.”
Permitting for Vineyard Wind dragged during Trump’s first term. When it appeared as if the Interior Department would reject its permit in the waning days of Trump’s presidency, the project withdrew its application. It was later approved by the Biden administration. The start of construction was celebrated by Biden officials in 2021, but the project was later hit by a dockworkers strike and a turbine accident, when a blade detached and crashed into the ocean.
As construction lagged, the economic environment for wind development deteriorated. Inflation drove up the price for inputs like steel, making the cost of projects more expensive. Higher interest rates made it more expensive to finance new projects. Eversource Energy, a New England utility, responded by selling its stake in Revolution Wind to a subsidiary of BlackRock. Its other owner, Ørsted, was repeatedly forced to write down the value of projects planned along the East Coast by billion of dollars, including a $306 million write-down of Revolution Wind. Ørsted canceled a project off New Jersey and shelved another planned near Maryland.
Then Trump won reelection. The president pledged to stop offshore wind projects on the campaign trail, then quickly sought to fulfill that promise after taking office. Interior issued two separate orders halting construction of Revolution Wind, claiming the project was a national security concern. Both orders were overturned in court. A Friday deadline for the Trump administration to appeal the second ruling came and went without an appeal. Vineyard Wind was also halted over national security allegations by the Trump administration, but resumed construction after challenging the decision in court.
The combination of higher costs and Trump’s opposition to offshore wind makes it unclear if additional projects will be completed. Massachusetts has repeatedly delayed a decision to finalize contracts for two projects it provisionally awarded power deals to in 2024. Connecticut has halted contracting for new offshore wind projects altogether.
Vineyard Wind has gradually ramped up electricity production in recent months, even before all of its turbines were installed. The project, which had 44 turbines operating at the end of 2025, saw power production triple to 410 gigawatt-hours in the fourth quarter of 2025. It then posted strong production during a brutal cold snap at the end of January, operating at 40 percent to 75 percent of its operating capacity, according to Wood Mackenzie, the energy consultant.
It was not immediately clear how many turbines at Revolution Wind were generating power. Meaghan Wims, an Ørsted spokesperson, declined to say how many turbines were operating but said the project “will scale up generation in the days and weeks ahead.”
