Duty calls for Block Island grid crew

National Grid has selected Connecticut outfit McPhee Electric to build an onshore substation for Deepwater Wind’s 30MW Block Island offshore project in Rhode Island.

Caldwell Marine and Environmental Crossings will handle horizontal directional drilling for submarine cable installation.

The two companies are in the final stages of mobilization and expect to start drilling in the next week or so.

The underground/overhead onshore cable contract is expected to be finalized soon, National Grid spokesman David Graves told reNEWS.

The utility will build and own the $107m interconnection facilities.

LS Cable and Durocher Marine are lined up to supply and install submarine cables in the spring. “We anticipate completing the major components of the project before summer,” said Graves.

Deepwater Wind installed five steel foundations over an 18-week construction period ending in November and plans to install towers and turbines this summer.

At the Port of Providence, GE continues to install electrical, mechanical and safety equipment in the bottom tower sections for the 6MW Haliade 150 turbines.

Meanwhile, an independent verification agent said Deepwater repaired welds on jacket number one’s four piles at about 2.5 metres above the mud line.

ABS Group has asked Deepwater to conduct a full analysis of the repairs to ensure “increased confidence in the lifetime of the joint”.

Other safety concerns highlighted last year have been corrected and no new issues were found, ABS said in a report to Rhode Island regulators.

Image: foundations being installed at the Block Island site (Deepwater Wind)