Vineyard Wind team Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners are to deploy a Seawatch Wind floating lidar buoy at the site of their proposed 800MW offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.
The buoy, which was designed by Fugro will be used to measure wind speed, wave heights and frequency, as well as ocean currents to help the developers with the final designs for the wind farm.
Fugro will operate the buoy during its deployment, which will be carried out on 22 May by 41°North Offshore’s tug boat Kodiak.
Vineyard Wind chief development officer Erich Stephens said: “Deployment of this measurement equipment is an important part of our plan to obtain permits, finalise the project design, and begin construction in 2019, so that we can be fully operational in 2021.”
The project is one of three competing for long-term contracts with Massachusetts’ electric distribution companies for 800MW of offshore capacity.
Other bids for the 800MW contract from Massachusetts were received from Orsted and Eversource’s Bay State Wind joint venture and from Deepwater Wind.
A decision on the projects is expected later this month.
Image: reNEWS
Lidar to light up Vineyard
By EBS