A judge has agreed to reconsider a temporary injunction he issued last month that prevented turbine supplier GE Renewables from walking away from Vineyard Wind.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp issued the injunction April 17.
GE filed for reconsideration, arguing that circumstances have changed. The company contends that Vineyard Wind is now commercially operational and will not suffer irreparable harm without GE.
“Either the Project was, in fact, capable of commercial operation at the time of the preliminary injunction hearing or it became so within days, without any material change in underlying conditions,” attorneys for GE wrote in a court filing. “In either case, VW's irreparable harm showing collapses.”
GE is seeking to terminate its two contracts with Vineyard Wind, one for turbines and one for service and maintenance. The two companies are embroiled in a financial dispute stemming from a turbine blade failure in 2024. A blade shattered and littered the ocean with debris, and a subsequent analysis showed that 68 blades needed to be replaced.
Vineyard Wind sued to block GE from terminating the contracts, and GE asked the court to force Vineyard Wind into arbitration over the financial issues.
Krupp was scheduled to consider the arbitration question Friday, but he said he will first deal with GE’s motion to reconsider the temporary injunction.
Attorney Michael Scheinkman, speaking for Vineyard Wind, told the judge that the wind farm needs more work from GE to reach its full capacity.
“This is an 806-megawatt project that's generating output at less than half of that, which is not sufficient to generate commercially viable levels of electricity,” he said. “GE's work is necessary to do that.”
To counter that, GE pointed to an April 29 earnings call, in which Iberdrola, one of Vineyard Wind’s parent companies, said the wind farm has reached commercial operation.
“I think from the — if I'm not wrong, from the 24th of April, it's in commercial operation,” Ignacio Galán, executive chairman of Iberdrola, said on a recording of the call posted in the Iberdrola website.
“C.O.D. [commercial operation date] was declared,” added Iberdrola CEO Pedro Azagra.
In court, Krupp scheduled a May 12 hearing to reconsider the temporary injunction.
“I need to have the benefit of everybody's thoughts about what the irreparable harm is, in light of the changed circumstances, if the injunction were to be vacated,” he said.
In the financial dispute, GE Renewables cited nonpayment from Vineyard Wind as a reason for terminating its contracts. But Vineyard Wind said it was withholding payment because GE owed the wind company compensation for the blade failure.
An engineer determined that GE owed Vineyard Wind about $853 million, mainly related to the blade incident.
To offset that money, Vineyard Wind withheld about $300 million it would otherwise have paid to GE. It said GE still owes nearly $550 million.
GE argued that Vineyard Wind cannot withhold payment because the damages are disputed.
