Milestone in Component Construction for US Offshore Wind Farms
Construction on two of the U.S.’s first large offshore wind farms is proceeding marking a milestone yesterday, May 1, at the assembly yard set up in Providence, Rhode Island. Partners Ørsted and Eversource highlighted the completion of the components for the South Fork Wind Farm while work also began on foundation component construction of the next project, Revolution Wind.
Work is proceeding at ProvPort in Providence which has been turned into a hub for the companies’ joint venture which proposes a total of four utility-scale wind farms all to be supported from the facility. According to the companies, the work underway represents more than $1000 million invested in Rhode Island. Currently, they are employing more than 125 people on the assembly project and expect to move into offshore work for the first wind farm as well as onshore assembly for the second location in the coming months.
“Rhode Island is a national leader in offshore wind, and today marks a significant moment as our state continues to capitalize on one of our state’s most abundant natural resources,” said Governor Dan McKee of Rhode Island. “In addition to assisting us in meeting our emissions reductions target in the Act on Climate, the work underway will also create more jobs, making Rhode Island an economic hub for clean energy.”
Pallets of unassembled parts for the two wind farms are continuing to arrive at ProvPort as the supply chain continues to build. The first wind farm, South Fork Wind will consist of 12 turbines generating 130 MW of power. Onshore work has been underway on Long Island and now the facility in Rhode Island has completed the components. The finished components for South Fork have been positioned alongside the Providence River, staged for them to begin moving offshore for installation.
South Fork will be located 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York. Although the assembly work is happening for the components in Rhode Island, power will be supplied to New York in this first project. Offshore cabling commenced and they expect to begin moving the components out to the site n the coming weeks. The wind farm is expected to begin power generation before the end of the year.
Work is now starting in the building hall on the components for the second wind farm, Revolution Wind. It will be larger consisting of 65 turbines located more than 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast. Revolution Wind will generate 304 megawatts of offshore wind energy for the state of Connecticut and is expected to begin commercial operations in 2025. Onshore work for the underground transmission system is expected to begin this year while assembly of the offshore components is also underway in Providence.
Boskalis has already been awarded the contract for offshore work for both wind farms. They will be handling the foundations and offshore substation transportation and installation.
Other work also underway includes construction has started on the five crew transfer vessels that the joint venture will use to service its Northeast projects. Blount Boats in Warren, Rhode Island, and Senesco Marine in Quonset Point are building the vessels.
Ørsted and Eversource plan to use the ProvPort facility also to assemble components for the Sunrise Wind Farm which is in the planning stages for New York. The project would be located more than 30 miles east of Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, and generate approximately 924 megawatts of offshore wind energy. Sunrise Wind is also expected to begin commercial operations by 2025. Ørsted and Eversource have also submitted a proposal to Rhode Island for a second phase, Revolution Wind 2. It proposes an 884-megawatt wind farm that would also be developed using these facilities.