The start of construction of Vineyard Wind I in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Credit: Iberdrola.

Spanish energy company Iberdrola has begun construction works on the 800MW Vineyard Wind I offshore wind farm in Barnstable County, Massachusetts.

Vineyard Wind will operate the facility, which is located 24km from the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

Iberdrola holds a 50% stake in Vineyard Wind through Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Avangrid, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Iberdrola chairman and CEO and Avangrid chairman Ignacio Galán said: “Vineyard Wind I is on a par with the most ambitious offshore developments globally, including those developed by the Iberdrola Group.

“With 15 years of offshore wind leadership, Iberdrola and Avangrid are more than ready to help the US benefit from the substantial opportunities of offshore wind including economic investment and job creation.

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“Our offshore developments in New England and North Carolina/Virginia could represent a total investment well above $15bn in the coming years.”

The offshore wind facility is expected to generate enough clean energy to power 400,000 households while creating 3,600 jobs.

A Project Labour Agreement (PLA) was signed with Southeast Massachusetts Building Trades for the project.

The PLA aims to ensure the creation of almost 500 jobs for local tradespeople and will include targets to hire women and Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC).

Vineyard Wind I is said to be the US’s first large-scale offshore wind farm and will be 25 times the size of the 30MW offshore wind farm in Rhode Island.

During its first 20 years of operation, the wind farm is estimated to reduce power tariffs by $1.4m, while displacing more than 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

Iberdrola is set to invest more than $35bn in the US renewable energy market by 2025.

Last month, the company announced plans to invest £6bn ($8.2bn) to build the East Anglia Hub, an offshore wind complex in the UK.