Vineyard Wind has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a wind turbine-supplying unit of GE Vernova from terminating agreements and abandoning work on a $4.5 billion offshore wind farm in Massachusetts on the eve of completion.
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Spain's Iberdrola and Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, filed a lawsuit this week in a state court in Boston accusing the GE Vernova subsidiary of wrongly trying to terminate their contract at the wind project's "most vulnerable stage".
It is one of five major east coast offshore wind projects that President Donald Trump's administration halted construction near the end of 2025, citing national security. Federal judges following lawsuits allowed construction to resume on all five.
After resuming construction, Vineyard Wind's 806-megawatt project off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in February became the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States to begin initial operations.
But days later, GE Renewables US, which designed, manufactured and installed Vineyard Wind's wind turbine generators, sent it a notice threatening to end their turbine supply agreement, the lawsuit said.
Vineyard Wind, in a complaint dated Wednesday, said GE did so citing a failure to pay amounts it was contractually due under their $1.3 billion contract. Vineyard Wind said it had exercised its right to withhold about $308 million as a result of GE's "admittedly poor performance", after one of its offshore blades in 2024 collapsed and fell into the waters off Nantucket, causing delays.
Vineyard Wind called GE's termination of the agreements improper and has asked a judge to block GE from ceasing work on the wind project, which, "threatens to deprive hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts ratepayers of clean energy." When taking into account the full lifetime costs and subsidies of offshore wind, as well as the environmental impact of the turbines themselves plus the materials used, the claim that the energy produced is "clean" is highly debatable.
A judge has scheduled an April 16 hearing to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction.
GE Vernova in a statement said it had elected to terminate its agreements due to Vineyard Wind withholding the money. The company said it did so after completing the installation of all 62 wind turbines at the wind farm.
"The company remains committed to the safety of the wind farm and stands by our performance and our contractual obligations," GE Vernova said. "We will vigorously defend our position through the appropriate legal process."
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Edward Tobin)
