The wind turbine installation campaign for the 806 MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project has begun some 15 miles (approximately 24 kilometres) off the coast of Massachusetts, the US.
The installation campaign follows the successful transportation earlier this week of the first GE Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbine from the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal to the project’s development area more than 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod.
Vineyard Wind 1 will feature 62 GE Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines installed by DEME’s jack-up Sea Installer .
“Over the past year, we have achieved significant milestones in the development of Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind 1, but the installation of the project’s first turbine stands as a singular landmark for offshore wind, clean energy, and climate action in the United States,” said Pedro Azagra , Avangrid CEO.
The wind turbine components were transported by the Marmac and the Foss Prevailing Wind barges, both 400 feet long (about 122 metres).
Once installed, the Haliade-X will rise to more than 860 feet (or 260 metres) which is equivalent to 3x the height of the Flat Iron Building, said Avangrid.
GE loaded the US-flagged Marmac from the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal with vertically placed tower sections, three 351-foot-long blades (about 107 metres), and a nacelle pod that houses the generating components.
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As a part of the Project Labor Agreement for the project, local union labor will be used both on the vessels and onshore at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between AVANGRID and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), estimates that approximately 400 union members have worked on the project to date.
“We are proud that local union labor will pioneer the installation of the massive GE turbines that will harness the winds off the shores of Massachusetts to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses across the Commonwealth,” said Azagra.