Block Island Wind Farm, the U.S. first offshore wind project, has entered the offshore construction phase, according to Jeff Grybowski, Deepwater Wind’s CEO.
“Heading offshore – ready to build,” Grybowski wrote on his social media page today.
The main installation vessel, the Weeks 533 , was mobilized for work this weekend following the arrival of wind turbine foundations at the construction site.
At the beginning of this month , the first foundations were loaded onto a barge and sent from Louisiana, where they were constructed by Gulf Island Fabrication.
Foundations will be installed three miles (4.8 kilometres) southeast of Block Island in the following 8 weeks.
The installation of cables and wind turbines is scheduled to take place in a year from now and the first American offshore wind farm is expected to be operational in fall 2016.
Heading offshore – ready to build! #BlockIslandWindFarm @DeepwaterWind pic.twitter.com/pC2mPxxFjq
— Jeff Grybowski (@JGrybowski) July 21, 2015
Offshore WIND Staff; Image: Deepwater Wind (Weeks 533)