Block Island Mainland Link to Make Landfall Within Days

The 20-mile submarine cable which will connect US mainland to Block Island and export the electricity generated by the 30MW Block Island offshore wind wind farm, is expected to make landfall at Crescent Beach, Block Island, in the next week or so, depending on the weather.

The cable laying barge Big Max started laying the 34.5kV National Grid (Sea2Shore) export cable off Scarborough Beach last week and is currently around halfway between Narraganset and Block Island, according to the AIS data.

Land cable installation will be taking place along Corn Neck Road and parts of Beach Avenue over the next several days in order to expedite the interconnection work when the submarine cable makes landfall.

Land cable installation works at Scarborough Beach are expected to be completed by the end of June.

The Block Island wind farm will, once commissioned by the end of 2016, become the first offshore wind farm in US waters. It will comprise of five 6MW Haliade turbines installed some 3 miles off Block Island.