Equinor has told a US federal district court that if critical construction activities at its 810MW Empire Wind 1 do not resume by 16 January, “cascading effects” will likely result in the project’s cancellation.
Equinor’s vice president for power US Theodore Muhlfelder wrote in a filing with the court that the installation of the offshore substation is on a particularly tight schedule.
Empire was one of five in-construction projects halted by a stop-work order issued by the US government in December and Equinor is seeking an injunction for the site.
Heerema’s heavy-lift vessel Sleipnir is scheduled to lift the topside and install it on the jacket by 26 January, a four to six day operation, according to the Equinor court filing.
“Inability to timely install the topside will have cascading effects that are likely to result in project cancellation,” Muhlfelder told the court.
The Sleipnir is currently transporting the substation across the Atlantic from Singapore, and is scheduled to arrive on site this weekend, Equinor wrote.
The 3000 ton topside can only remain on the heavy-lift transport vessel for a limited time, and will need to be transported to an onshore facility to ensure the integrity of its electrical equipment, the court was told.
“Empire Wind is currently unaware of any onshore facility capable of storing the offshore substation topside due to weight restrictions, the absence of crane equipment capable of handling the weight of the topside, and the limited availability of onshore facilities to store such a large piece of equipment,” Muhlfelder added.
The Equinor man told the court that the company may not be able to insure the storage of the topside, and it may need to store the topside in Europe because of the US Jones Act.