Just this week the foundation installation campaign for the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm started in the United States. DEME’s Orion is installing monopiles at Vineyard Wind 1. We are very excited about tracking the installation of this pioneering project and the challenges of installing in a new market such as the US. The US market brings further challenges Jones Act (more info) which means only US-flagged vessels can go back and forth between American ports. In practice, this means barges are needed until Jones Act-compliant vessels have been constructed. Stay tuned as we follow this closely.
Today, we first look back at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project that was installed in 2020. The small demo features two 6 MW Siemens Gamesa turbines installed on monopile foundations. Our dashboard below gives you insight into:
- The installation time of foundations & turbines
- The time between the installation of foundations & turbines
- Time in port, transit and on-site
- The impact of weather conditions
Try the dashboard right here (allow cookies to make the dashboard appear). Click the full-screen mode in the bottom right corner for the best experience.
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Pilot is a collaboration between Dominion Energy and Ørsted. The wind farm was installed by Jan De Nul’s Vole Au Vent back in 2020. The vessel installed both the two monopile foundations and the two wind turbines. Both scopes utilized the Canadian port of Halifax in part due to the aforementioned Jones Act.
The pilot project is the forerunner for the commercial-scale project of the same name. Scheduled for offshore construction in 2024, the CVOW project will consist of 176 wind turbines and three substations. Located 27 miles off Virginia Beach, it aims to provide carbon-free wind power to 660,000 homes. You can read more on their website.
Photo by Stephen Boutwell/BOEM – Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Pilot fully operation since 2020.
