Vineyard Wind's Lights Still Visible As Promised Radar System Remains Inoperative

Nearly a year after Vineyard Wind installed its first turbine off Nantucket, the lights atop the 800-foot towers - which the company promised would remain dark unless an aircraft was passing by - continue to blink incessantly on the horizon.

While the project remains suspended by the federal government following the July 13 blade failure that remains under investigation, Vineyard Wind has been allowed to resume some construction activities, and the lights atop the 24 turbines that have been installed to date have been an eyesore for many who enjoy Nantucket’s dark skies at night.

As part of Vineyard Wind's mitigation agreement with the town of Nantucket - a document better known as the Good Neighbor Agreement that was signed back in 2020 - the company is required to install a so-called Aircraft Detection Lighting System or ADLS. This system will utilize radar to ensure the lights at the top of each turbine activate only when there is an aircraft close to the wind farm area.

Vineyard Wind initially pledged to have the system operational by Memorial Day weekend. After that deadline came and went, the company pledged in June that the ADLS would be up and running “within the next several weeks.” Now, nearly three months after that statement, there is still no definitive timeline for when the system will be active.

“Vineyard Wind continues to make progress on the implementation of the Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS),” Vineyard Wind’s communications director Craig Gilvarg told the Current on Tuesday. “Vineyard Wind is working closely with various contractors and construction teams involved in implementing this complex technology, and remote testing of the ESP ADLS system is positioned to start soon, lasting for several weeks. Once this work is completed, the FAA lights on the first grouping of fully commissioned turbines are expected to be functional via the ADLS system. The ADLS will be operational on more turbines as commissioning work progresses.”

The language of the Good Neighbor Agreement signed by Vineyard Wind and the town indicates that the ADLS is intended “to reduce nighttime lighting and minimize the potential visual impacts of the Projects on the Nantucket Historical District National Historic Landmark.”

According to the terms of the 2021 memorandum of agreement between Vineyard Wind, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and Brona Simon, the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Officer, “The ADLS must be installed and operational prior to commencing commercial operation.” Vineyard Wind announced back in January 2024 that it had delivered power to the New England power grid for the first time.

Still, the company claims it is not in violation of either agreement.

"Vineyard Wind remains in full compliance with both the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)," Gilvarg said. "The MOA specifies that the ADLS will be activated prior to commercial operation of the project, while the GNA does not specify a time frame for the ADLS. The project has not yet achieved commercial operation under its PPAs."

The Nantucket-based opposition group ACK For Whales expressed its frustration this week that the ADLS was not yet operational, and that Vineyard Wind appeared to be “ignoring” the requirements of its memorandum of agreement and the Good Neighbor Agreement.

“Vineyard Wind was operational prior to the blade explosion and the environmental disaster it caused, yet the project was operational without the requisite ADLS and it seems no one is holding them accountable,” the group said in a statement to the Current. “Similarly, the Town’s Good Neighbor Agreement with Vineyard Wind also promises ADLS, and again, no ADLS has been implemented. On May 6th (the day before Annual Town Meeting), Vineyard Wind told the community that ADLS would be functional by Memorial Day. Not only did this not happen, it still hasn’t happened. This disregard and lack of accountability should be considered unacceptable to the town, to the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Preservation Trust (all signers of the Good Neighbor Agreement), and also to everyone who lives here, works here and visits our beautiful island. Nantucket is bearing all of the burden on these projects and reaping no benefit, whatsoever.”

Asked about the situation by the Current, Nantucket Select Board chair Brooke Mohr declined to comment specifically on the ADLS issue other than to say that “ADLS is one item on a long list of items that are part of our negotiation strategies with Vineyard Wind. These strategies are always discussed in executive session. I will look into if and when it would make sense for us to make a public statement.”

According to Vineyard Wind’s memorandum of agreement with BOEM signed in 2021, the official description of an ADLS is a “sensor-based systems designed to detect aircraft as they approach an obstruction or group of obstructions; these systems automatically activate the appropriate obstruction lights until they are no longer needed by the aircraft. This technology reduces the impact of nighttime lighting on nearby communities and migratory birds and extends the life expectancy of obstruction lights.” The company has asserted that once it is operational, it will be activated for less than four hours per year (less than .1 percent of the total annual nighttime hours) based on the historical use of the airspace above the Vineyard Wind lease area.

Gail Walker, the founder of the advocacy group "Nantucket Lights" which successfully lobbied for a new outdoor lighting bylaw in 2023, told the Current Tuesday that her group had not spoken out on the issue of Vineyard Wind and the ADLS system.

Nantucket Lights' mission is "to preserve and protect Nantucket's nighttime environment and heritage of dark skies by raising awareness about light pollution on the island and advocating for environmentally responsible outdoor lighting."

Walker said she had started conducting "sky quality monitoring" at Cisco Beach in August 2024 and had not yet detected any decline in the overall darkness of the night sky at the south shore beach as a result of the turbine lights.

"The construction lights, the red blinking lights, probably do not penetrate up into the sky, and when we’re talking about light pollution like sky glow, the red lights don’t have that blue light that does that," Walker said. "Visually it can be a problem for some, but our focus is on affecting the ability to enjoy the stars above Nantucket. It remains to be seen whether it will be a problem with sky glow, which is different from aesthetically looking out on the horizon and seeking blinking red lights... I did some research and my understanding is the ADLS is the standard and that is what will eventually be out there."