Oct 15 Reuters Vineyard Wind, which was on track to become the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, closed on a $2.3 billion loan and will begin construction in Massachusetts later this year, its owners said on Wednesday.
The senior debt financing allows the project, which is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, to mobilize its contractors and suppliers to begin work, the companies said.
The U.S. government approved Vineyard Wind in May, billing it as the inauguration of a new domestic industry that will help eliminate emissions from power sector, a critical pillar in President Joe Biden's climate change agenda.
With the signing of these agreements, we now have everything in place to start construction, launching an industry that will quickly start to create jobs and make a significant contribution to meet Massachusetts' carbon pollution reduction targets, Lars Pedersen, chief executive of Vineyard Wind, said in a statement.
Construction will start onshore in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and later that year in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The project will start off the next year and the offshore energy project is expected to start delivering electricity in 2023.
Vineyard Wind will be located 15 miles 24 kilometers off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and is intended to generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes in New England.
Nine banks participated in the $2.3 billion financing. They are Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, BBVA, NatWest, Credit Agricole, Natixis, BNP Paribas and MUFG Bank respectively. The company was also represented by Santander, which invested in the project.