Construction begins on the US’ first-ever offshore wind farm service operations vessel

March 6, 2022 by admin 28 Comments

The US offshore wind industry is ramping up quickly, and so too are the essential industries that will support it. Danish wind giant Ørsted, New England energy company Eversource, and Louisiana-based marine transport company Edison Chouest Offshore yesterday announced that shipbuilding has started on the Eco Edison, the first Jones Act-qualified offshore wind farm service operations vessel in the US.

The Jones Act is a US federal law that requires goods shipped between US ports to be transported on vessels that are built, owned, and operated by US citizens or permanent residents.

Electrek reported in June 2021 that Dominion Energy was building the Charybdis, the first Jones Act-qualified offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the US. The Charybdis will carry and install turbine components. Ørsted and Eversource will charter the Charybdis for the construction of offshore wind farms Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind.

Meet the Eco Edison

The Eco Edison is a service operations vessel, which is essentially a floating office/hotel/tool shed where crew members will live and perform operations and maintenance in two-week rotations at wind farms. The vessel will be over 260 feet long and capable of housing 60 crew members.

The Eco Edison is being built at Edison Chouest Offshore in-house shipyards in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, creating over 300 jobs, with components being manufactured across 12 states.

It will be powered by four Caterpillar 3512E EPA Tier 4 generator sets, each rated for 1,700 ekW, which are configured for variable speed operation. It will have a GE Power Conversion electrical system, which can operate with generator sets or stored energy, and the latest generation of Voith Schneider Propellers, featuring integrated permanent magnet motors.

Ørsted claims that it’s being constructed to incorporate future zero-carbon emission technology, and says it’s a high-efficiency, low-power consumption, minimum greenhouse gas emissions vessel.

The Eco Edison will be delivered in 2024 and will immediately provide operational support out of Port Jefferson, New York, for Ørsted and Eversource’s joint venture offshore wind portfolio, which includes South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind, and Sunrise Wind.

Once complete, South Fork Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind will generate approximately 1.8 GW of offshore wind power, enough to power over a million homes.

Ørsted has around 5 GW of offshore wind energy in development in five states and across seven projects.

Main image: Ørsted

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