Vineyard Wind Sues Turbine Manufacturer To Stop It From Backing Out Of Wind Farm; $4.5 Billion Project In Jeopardy
Jason Graziadei •
Vineyard Wind has completed construction of the 62-turbine wind farm southwest of Nantucket, but the future of the project appears to be very much in jeopardy.
Vineyard Wind is suing GE Renewables, the manufacturer of its turbines, to block the company from backing out of the project. Without its partner, Vineyard Wind stated in its lawsuit that the entire $4.5 billion offshore wind project is imperiled.
"GER (GE Renewables) walking away threatens the project's very survival," Vineyard Wind's attorneys wrote in a filing submitted this week to the Suffolk Superior Court. The project's failure would "leave behind a dormant wind farm graveyard. There is no viable replacement."
The lawsuit was prompted by GE Renewables (GER) sending a termination notice to Vineyard Wind on February 27, claiming the offshore wind developer had failed to cover more than $300 million in unpaid bills. Terminating those agreements would leave Vineyard Wind unable to operate and maintain its turbines, which run on GE Renewables' proprietary designs, technology, and software, according to the legal filing.
"Only GER is able to perform the remaining work necessary to bring the performance of the GER turbines up to the capacity and reliability standards required for Vineyard Wind to supply power to Massachusetts consumers," the offshore wind developer stated in the lawsuit. "Even if it were doable, however, it will be virtually impossible to find a turbine supplier that would be willing to take GER's place."
Vineyard Wind claims it is owed more than $545 million by GE Renewables for expenses incurred due to defective blades shipped from GE Renewables' manufacturing plant in Gaspe, Canada. In July 2024, one of those blades collapsed and shattered, sending tons of debris onto Nantucket's beaches and surrounding waters, prompting the federal government to shut down the project for months. It was later determined that more than 60 blades that had already been installed at the wind farm were also defective and needed to be replaced.
"Separately, and in addition to ongoing commissioning efforts, substantial
remediation and repair work for the (turbines) also remains," Vineyard Wind stated in its complaint. "Not one of the 62 GER (turbines) has yet met the contractual requirements for Vineyard Wind taking them over, the line demarcating the construction and operation phases. Because of this, the Project is far from generating the electricity output contractually required to sustain its financing viability during the operation phase."
In a statement provided to The Boston Globe, GE Vernova, the parent company of GE Renewables, said "Vineyard Wind has chosen to withhold payments for more than 18 months, totaling more than $300 million, for work performed. Consequently, GE Vernova exercised its contractual right to terminate the ongoing project agreements for non-payment,” the spokesperson said. “We will vigorously defend our position through the appropriate legal process.”
Following GE Renewables' submission of its termination notice in February, Vineyard Wind sent multiple requests to the company asking it to withdraw the notice, but was rebuffed each time. Executives from both companies met as recently as Monday, April 6, to resolve the dispute, but were unable to reach an accord.
If the wind farm is not fully commissioned and operational soon, Vineyard Wind claims it will default on the loans it secured for the project, raising the possibility of a foreclosure.
"Without GER to service and maintain the (turbines), and without the yield warranty, the lenders will have the ability to declare an event of default, accelerate repayment of the construction loan, and foreclose on the Project," Vineyard Wind stated. "Such an event would threaten the financial viability of the entire Project and, consequently, Vineyard Wind's ability to survive, depriving the ratepayers of Massachusetts of low cost renewable energy."
The endgame of the lawsuit is not yet clear, but if GE Renewables successfully walks away from the project and Vineyard Wind's dire warnings regarding "a dormant wind farm graveyard" come to fruition, there is no funding available to remove the massive, 800-foot turbines.
That is because the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in 2021 granted Vineyard Wind a so-called "departure request," or waiver, from a requirement that it provide financial assurance for decommissioning costs before the installation of the turbines. The federal agency allowed Vineyard Wind to defer the payment of its decommissioning bond until the 15th year of commercial operations.
"BOEM finds that this departure is necessary to facilitate appropriate activities on lease OCS-A 0501 because it would reduce Vineyard Wind’s upfront financial assurance burden, thereby facilitating the Project’s financing process and enabling Vineyard Wind to invest the available capital in planning and construction, which could, in turn, enable Vineyard Wind to commence operations more quickly than if the departure were not granted," wrote James F. Bennett, BOEM's chief of the
Office of Renewable Energy Programs, in his 2021 decision.
At the time the waiver was granted in 2021, BOEM estimated that Vineyard Wind's decommissioning liability at approximately $191 million, according to BOEM public affairs officer Brian Walch.
Vineyard Wind's lawsuit against GE Renewables this week marks the latest rocky chapter for the offshore wind developer, which has faced legal challenges from the Trump administration, as well as the fallout from the blade failure in July 2024.
Following the Trump administration's suspension of the Vineyard Wind project in December 2024, when it cited national security concerns in halting all offshore wind projects, a federal judge struck down that order in January, allowing Vineyard Wind to resume construction.
Last month, Vineyard Wind spokesperson Craig Gilvarg declared that: “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."
In July 2025, the town of Nantucket announced a $10.5 million settlement with GE Vernova that will compensate island businesses that suffered losses as a result of the blade failure. Although it was not a signatory to the agreement, Vineyard Wind directly benefited from it, as the settlement released the company from all liability related to the failure. A community fund for residents to submit claims has now been established.
In early 2025, in the waning days of President Joe Biden's administration, the federal Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement lifted the suspension order for the project with the condition that GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind remove more than 60 defective blades had been installed at the wind farm. The suspension order was lifted despite the fact that BSEE had not completed its long-promised independent investigation into the blade failure and the cause of the incident. Nearly two years after the blade failure, BSEE has still not completed the investigation.