Some assembly of Block Island wind farm to take place at ProvPort

SOME OF THE ASSEMBLY WORK for Deepwater Wind's Block Island 30-megawatt offshore project is to be done at the Port of Providence, in addition to work already being done at the Quonset Business Park. The wind energy developer began installation work earlier this week off Block Island on the nation's first offshore wind energy farm. / BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO/SHIHO FUKADA
SOME OF THE ASSEMBLY WORK for Deepwater Wind's Block Island 30-megawatt offshore project is to be done at the Port of Providence, in addition to work already being done at the Quonset Business Park. The wind energy developer began installation work earlier this week off Block Island on the nation's first offshore wind energy farm. / BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO/SHIHO FUKADA

PROVIDENCE – The Providence Mayor’s Office on Friday confirmed a report that the Port of Providence would host at least a portion of Deepwater Wind LLC’s offshore wind turbine assembly work for its 30-megawatt Block Island project.
Deepwater Wind is slated to receive five Alstom 6-megawatt Haliade 150 offshore wind turbines from Europe this fall. Evan England, press secretary of Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, confirmed reports that at least some of the assembly work would happen at the Port of Providence. To date, the majority of local construction work done for the Block Island project has happened at the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, which includes some fabrication work for the foundation substructures.
But England stopped short of providing further detail, saying he needed to get more information from the port.
Deepwater Wind spokeswoman Meaghan Wims responded to a phone call with an email, writing, “We don’t have anything new to announce regarding construction plans,” but would not confirm or deny the possibility of turbine work at Providence Port.
When Deepwater Wind in 2014 announced its contract agreement with France-based Alstom, the Rhode Island company said the partnership would “create a number of local jobs and boost economic activity in Rhode Island.”
They also said Alstom intended to base long-term operations in the Ocean State to preform pre-installation work “in the Rhode Island harbor.”
The Alstom turbines, which include tower sections, would stand on steel frames set in the seabed about 3 miles southeast of Block Island. The company successfully set the first of the five foundations last weekend.
Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffery Grybowski earlier this year told National Public Radio that the company’s future wind projects would require Quonset as “a principal port facility,” but that any larger projects “would likely need to use multiple ports in the region.”
Grybowski could not be immediately reached for comment.

No posts to display

1 COMMENT