Duke Energy Renewables Wins Block Island Monitoring and Control Services Contract

North Carolina-based Duke Energy Renewables has signed an agreement with Deepwater Wind to perform remote monitoring and control services for the first offshore wind project in the United States, the 30MW Block Island wind farm, located off the coast of Rhode Island.

Duke Energy’s Renewable Control Center (RCC) will supply 24/7 monitoring and control services, data acquisition, performance analysis and reporting when the project begins commercial operation in November.

“Duke Energy is a proven leader in renewable energy monitoring services and their expertise will provide reliable, real-time monitoring and critical analysis of the Block Island Wind Farm’s operations,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski.

The RCC will also perform energy market and dispatch services for the Block Island wind farm, serving as point of contact with ISO New England, the regional transmission organization.

“We will leverage our vast operational experience and our advanced, secure control center to increase the performance and reliability of the Block Island Wind Farm,” said Rob Caldwell, president, Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology.

The RCC is also contracting with two companies to provide additional services for the Block Island.

Grantek Systems Integration is supplying plant network, SCADA design and engineering services. Philadelphia-based Customized Energy Solutions is providing scheduling, settlement and reporting services.

“We are currently implementing additional cyber security controls to meet NERC’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) requirements,” said Jeff Wehner, vice president of Duke Energy Renewable Operations.

“Offering the advanced technology and security of a CIP-compliant control center to others in the renewables industry, like the Block Island Wind Farm, saves customers the significant investment of building a control center of their own.”

Deepwater Wind completed construction on the Block Island wind farm in August. GE Renewable Energy is the project’s turbine supplier, providing the five, 6-megawatt Haliade wind turbines.