DEME Installs Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Substation, First in US

July 26, 2023, by Adnan Memija

DEME’s specialised floating installation vessel Orion has installed the offshore substation for the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 wind farm, a first in the US, said the Belgium-based company.

Vineyard Wind

With a weight of more than 3,500 tonnes, this was the single heaviest lift of the entire construction campaign, according to Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid.

The offshore substation left the quay at Bladt Industries’ production site in Southern Denmark in May and headed for its destination 35 miles from mainland Massachusetts.

Bladt handled the steel manufacturing of the substation. Design and engineering were carried out by Semco Maritime and ISC, and installation of the electrical system was also carried out by Semco Maritime.

After the installation of the offshore substation, Semco Maritime and Bladt Industries will now take over and begin work on the offshore commissioning during the summer.

Array cables from the 62 Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines will connect to the offshore substation. From there, the renewable energy will be aggregated and routed onshore through two export cables to power 400,000 homes across Massachusetts.

DEME said it will continue with the installation of the 62 foundations, a campaign that kicked off back in May.

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Its vessel, Orion, installed the first monopile foundation last month, during which Vineyard Wind deployed the offshore support vessels (OSV) Atlantic Oceanic and the Northstar Navigator to deploy a primary and secondary bubble curtain which is designed to absorb and dampen sound throughout the foundation installation.

Vineyard Wind 1, the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the US, is located 15 miles (24 kilometres) off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and is planned to start producing power this year.