Bank of China contributes to $2.344 billion USD sustainability-linked syndicated loan for the 800 MW Vineyard Offshore Wind Farm Project

Project narrative

On September 16, 2021, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of nine lenders entered into a sustainability-linked syndicated loan agreement with Vineyard Wind I LLC — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and joint venture between Avangrid Renewables (50% equity stake) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) (50%) — for the 800 MW Vineyard Offshore Wind Farm Project. Then, on or around December 16, 2021, syndication was closed on the sustainability-linked loan with a final size of $2.344 billion USD and a final syndicate of 25 lenders — including the Bank of China (New York Branch). The $2.344 billion USD loan carried a maturity period of 10 years and an interest rate of LIBOR plus 138 basis points (bps). Additionally, a $104 million USD standby letter of credit was signed, carrying a maturity period of three years, a final maturity date of April 30, 2024, was pricing at LIBOR plus 137.5 bps, and commitment fees of 40 bps. However, AidData does not consider letters of credit to be flows. The project carried a 60:40 debt-to-equity ratio. The borrower during the construction period was Vineyard Wind I LLC. During the project's operational stage, two additional SPVs — Vineyard Wind CI Partners 1 LLC and Avangrid Vineyard Wind, LLC — are to become the borrowers. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the final syndicate: Apple Bank, Associated Bank, Bank of America, Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), BNP Paribas S.A., CaixaBank, CoBank, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (Commerzbank AG), Credit Agricole, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba), Intesa Sanpaolo, JP Morgan, KfW, Korea Development Bank (KDB), MUFG, Natixis, National Westminster Bank Plc (NatWest), Norinchukin, Banco de Sabadell, S.A., Banco Santander, S.A., Scotiabank, Inc., SBI Shinsei Bank, Limited, and Standard Chartered Bank PLC. The proceeds would be used by the borrower to construct the United States' first major offshore wind farm, located approximately 22 kilometers south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The 800 MW farm is expected to generate enough power for over 400,00 households and reduce carbon emissions by over 1.6 million metric tons per year. The wind farm would be connected to the grid from an offshore substation that would collect electricity before transmitting it to shore via two submarine export cables landing at Covell's Beach in Barnstable on Cape Cod before connecting to the Barnstable Substation. The first phase was to include 62 wind turbines, each place 1 nautical mile apart, and oriented on an east-west and north south configuration. The turbines are General Electric (GE) Haliade-X turbines, each capable of generating 13 megawatts of electricity. In September 2022, the Vineyard project announced that it would also partner with two US-based companies for construction and operations assistance. EverLine, a Houston-based energy compliance, technical, and security specialist, was signed on to provide Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) integration across the 62 turbines. The company will also be responsible for procuring equipment, configuring devices, installing and configuring SCADA software, and testing and commissioning all IT and SCADA systems. This system serves to connect the fields’ offices, substations, and wind turbines. Additionally, Ironhouse Engineering, LLC, a Maine-based engineering and consulting firm, signed on to provide commissioning oversight for the following equipment: onshore substation, inter-array cables, wind turbines, wind turbine foundation, and the SCADA system. Construction began in October 2022 when offshore export cables were installed. On January 2, 2024, Vineyard Wind 1 achieved first power production when one turbine provided 5 MW of power to the electricity grid. Then, on July 13, 2024, one blade, approximately the size of a football field, fell off of a rotating wind turbine. As a result, the developer removed blades from 22 turbines and replaced them. Nonetheless, by mid-April 2025, 32 turbine towers had been installed. Avangrid and CIP's US affiliate, Vineyard Offshore, are developing and constructing the project. Upon commercial operations, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Iberdrola agreed that Iberdrola will assume the operational and management responsibility of the facility. The site has worked to provide positive labor and environmental impacts. In July 2021, the project signed the first Project Labor Agreement to create 500 union jobs. By December 2023, Vineyard Wind 1 created a total of 937 union jobs over two years of construction, delivering almost double of its PLA commitment. The Environmental Business Council (EBC) of New England awarded the project the 2024 Ruth H. Silman Award for Climate Change Project of the Year Award. However, the Vineyard Wind 1 has faced several challenges in court and to its permitting. In March 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions from the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a commercial fishing lobbying firm, as well as a conservative think tank, to challenge the Vineyard Wind project, to hear their case against the project. RODA also lost a case in 2023 in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts and the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals also upheld this decision in 2024. The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) also petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of Rhode Island fishermen and fishing companies. ACK for Whales, an activist group based in Nantucket which originally went by "Nantucket Residents Against Turbines," filed petitions with both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (March of 2025) and the Interior Department and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (April 2025) to rescind the farm's Clean Air Act permit and construction and operations permit, respectively, arguing the project was harmful to whales. As of July 2025, the project was 30% completed. In September 2025, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed that offshore wind would not have a future under the administration of Donald Trump and that the Department of the Interior was reviewing the five offshore wind farms under construction in the United States, including Vineyard Wind 1 (arguing that they were approved through a permitting process that was "ideologically driven").