Turbines blades have begun to spin at Deepwater Wind’s 30MW Block Island offshore wind project in Rhode Island.
The US developer expects testing of the five GE Haliade 150 6MW turbines to take several weeks with commercial operations slated to start in November.
Meanwhile, lift boat Michael Eymard continues to install cable protection on the 20-mile subsea transmission cable linking Block Island to the mainland.
National Grid, which will own the $107m transmission and interconnection system, is completing construction of a new substation on Block Island, a new switching station on the mainland and upgrades to an existing system substation, said spokesman David Graves.
“Construction is going well,” said Graves. “We’re still on target for activation in mid-November.”
Image: GE turbines off Block Island (Deepwater Wind)
