DEME Group’s Sea Installer WTIV has arrived in the US to install the turbines at the 800MW Vineyard Wind.
The Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Iberdrola-backed JV will be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the US once operational.
The project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Sea Installer is one of the few vessels capable of installing the GE Haliade-X wind turbine.
The vessels measures more than 430 feet in length and 150 feet wide, is a heavy lift jack up vessel that lifts itself out of the water on legs that are over 300 feet in length.
Once elevated, the vessel becomes a platform where the recently upgraded crane, now capable of lifting more than 1600 tonnes, can install the tower sections, nacelle and blades for each turbine.
Vineyard Wind chief executive Klaus S Moeller said: “When Sea Installer lifts itself up from the ocean floor and begins to install turbines for this first-in-the-nation project, we will literally be standing up a new industry in the US.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be on the cusp of a milestone that will signal a new age for energy production in the United States.
“I want to thank all of our partners at every level of government, our friends in organized labor and the communities that are home to and support our project.”
DEME Offshore US President Bill White added: “DEME is extremely proud to be part of this historic moment in the American clean energy transition as we embark on the first offshore wind turbine installation campaign in US history.
“The moment is also a milestone in our company’s long history as this is the first time we will deploy our upgraded vessel Sea Installer – with its robust crane capacity of 1,600 metric tonnes – to install turbines.
“We are proud of the seamless collaboration and remarkable teamwork between DEME and the highly skilled union workers from the Massachusetts Building Trades currently working on board DEME’s Orion vessel installing offshore wind foundations.
“We are looking forward to creating that same dynamic on the Sea Installer as we work shoulder to shoulder toward a safe and successful installation campaign, and indeed, a more sustainsable future for our nation.”