Vineyard Wind has sued its turbine supplier, GE Renewables, in civil court in Boston, alleging GE is breaching its contract and planning to abandon the project by April 28 — during the critical final stage of coming fully online.
If GE exits, Vineyard Wind says, the project “will likely fail, leaving the windfarm stranded” and unable to reach the power output for Massachusetts residents that Vineyard promised in power contracts.
“[GE] walking away threatens the Project’s very survival,” Vineyard Wind attorneys wrote in a filing, and the project’s failure would “leave behind a dormant wind farm graveyard.”
According to the complaint, GE filed a termination notice with Vineyard Wind in late February for its contracts to supply wind turbines and service and maintain them, citing more than $300 million in claims unpaid by Vineyard Wind.
The contracts guarantee that GE technicians and employees will bring all turbines online through a commissioning process, and thereafter oversee the wind farm for at least the first few years of its operations.
Vineyard Wind says GE owes it more than $800 million for years of delays and impacts from the catastrophic blade failure in 2024. It says the figure was determined by a “project engineer,” appointed by the contract to rule on claims the parties file against one another.
That $800 million exceeds the more than $300 million GE says it is owed by Vineyard Wind, and Vineyard Wind says the contract permits it to withhold those payments while it is owed.
A GE spokesperson in a statement to The Light Friday evening 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 wrote. “The company remains committed to the safety of the wind farm and stands by our performance and our contractual obligations. We will vigorously defend our position through the appropriate legal process.”
If the $4.5 billion wind farm does not reach full power, Vineyard Wind attorneys argued, it cannot make a return on investments and repay the banks that lent $2 billion. If that happens, the lenders may declare a default and foreclose on the project, which Vineyard Wind’s attorneys said would threaten the project’s “ability to survive.”
Source: newbedfordlight
