Installation of the Block Island Wind Farm’s turbine towers, blades and nacelles is scheduled to begin in early August at the project site, roughly three miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The project remains on-schedule to be fully constructed this summer ready for commissioning in the autumn. It employs a world-class team of dozens of workers and specialists and will be America’s first offshore wind farm.
“It’s go time” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “We’re ready to bring this historic project across the finish line. This is sure to be a momentous summer – not just for this project, but also for the start of a new American industry.”
Governor Gina M. Raimondo added that projects like the Block Island Wind Farm are the future not only of Rhode Island’s economy, but the whole country’s economy and that the project is helping Rhode Island to position itself as a leader and an innovator in the industries of the future.
Last week, the Big Max cable lay vessel (under a contract with LS Cable and its subcontractor Durocher Marine) completed installation of all cables for the project, including the four inter-array cables connecting the five wind turbine foundations and the export cable connecting the wind farm to a new substation on Block Island. In addition, National Grid completed the installation of the sea2shore submarine cable connection between Block Island and mainland Rhode Island in June.
All 15 turbine tower sections and 15 blades, supplied by GE Renewable Energy and its blade manufacturer LM Wind Power, have been delivered to ProvPort, in Providence. These components will be shuttled from ProvPort to the project site by two Montco Offshore liftboats – the L/B Paul and the L/B Caitlin – that arrived at Quonset Point earlier this month.
GE has completed manufacturing of all turbine components, with the last major components to be completed – the five nacelles – beginning their journey across the Atlantic from the manufacturing facility in St. Nazaire, France, to the project site on July 15. The nacelles are being transported by Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s offshore wind installation vessel Brave Tern which is expected to arrive in Rhode Island by early August. The vessel will first undergo US Coast Guard inspections at its bunkering position in the southern area of Narragansett Bay, near Newport, R.I., before traveling to the Block Island site.
The final construction phase – offshore turbine installation by Brave Tern and the two Montco liftboats – will take roughly one month and is expected to finish by early September.
GE technicians will commission the wind turbines, a process that will start during offshore installation and take several months. The Block Island Wind Farm’s crew transfer vessel, Atlantic Wind Transfer’s Atlantic Pioneer, will transport these technicians to the wind farm. The wind farm will be in commercial operations once commissioning is complete.
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