On 5 September developer Deepwater Wind announced that it received final federal approval for the construction of their 30MW Block Island Wind Farm, to belocated around 3 miles off the coast of Block Island.
The company is now awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for its application for the offshore transmission cable.
Offshore construction is expected to start in summer 2015 with full operation planned for 2016 after which it will be able to provide energy for around 17,000 households. The wind farm will have 5 of Alstom’s 6MW Haliade-150 turbines which will be installed by Swire Blue Ocean’s Bold Tern. Alstom will also be responsible for the maintenance and operation.