U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said Monday that lenders, regulators and stakeholders can now see a path forward.
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Installation of the turbine foundations for Deepwater Wind’s 30-MW Block Island project started Sunday and will take about eight weeks, while the laying of submarine cables and turbine erection are planned for 2016.
RIPR’s Ambar Espinoza rides out to the site of the nation’s first off shore wind farm, which has just installed the first foundations on the sea floor.
“This is something we’ve been working toward for seven years, so this is a pretty significant moment for us”, said Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind, said of the $225 million project.
The project developer, Deepwater Wind, marked the “steel-in-the water” milestone for its Block Island Wind Farm on Monday, an event witnessed by federal and state officials who crowded into a boat to view the foundations for two wind-tower platforms jutting above the water.
Proposed wind farms in coastal Massachusetts, New Jersey and Delaware have stalled because of problems with financing, regulatory approvals or – in the case of Cape Cod’s Cape Wind Project – opposition from local landowners, including a member of the billionaire Koch family.
Gulf Island Fabrication of Houma, Louisiana, will build the farm’s five steel jacket foundations. Once completed, there will be five wind turbines off the coast of Block Island.
The foundations will rise about 70 feet above the waterline, about three miles off southeastern Block Island.
“It’s the beginning of something great in Rhode Island”, Raimondo said. “It will still be handsome”, she said. “Once the benefits of offshore wind can be demonstrated on a small scale, the industry can focus on larger projects that will provide more power at lower costs”.
“We are on the cusp of bringing offshore wind from theory to reality in the U.S. We’re incredibly proud of our position at the forefront of the U.S. offshore wind industry”, Grybowski said.
Alstom will supply five Haliade 150 6 MW offshore wind turbines for the project and has already completed the fabrication in Denmark of all 15 blades for the project. “We’re poised to launch a new American clean-tech industry, and it all starts here with our work on the Block Island Wind Farm”.
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“The U.S. derives about 17 percent of its domestic oil production, and about five percent of its domestic natural gas production from offshore areas, even though current federal policies prohibit oil and gas development off the Atlantic Coast”.
