US Offshore Wind Farm Encounters Another Construction Hiccup

November 5, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

After a delay in the construction of the onshore substation that also delayed the project’s commercial operation date, the Revolution Wind offshore wind farm in the US has faced a challenge with the installation of one of the offshore substation monopiles.

This is according to the information shared by Ørsted in the company’s third-quarter results, published on 5 November. The report does not suggest the piling issue will result in a further delay to the project’s commercial operation date but it does say it will affect project costs.

“[We] have experienced challenges primarily relating to the piling of one of the offshore substation monopiles, which will expectedly lead to higher project costs. We have increased our contingencies accordingly”, Mads Nipper, Ørsted’s CEO, stated in the CEO’s Review part of the report.

During a conference call on the Q3 2024 results, the company’s CEO said that the complication with piling left the monopile in a position where, while it was driven into the seabed to its target depth, it may not be suitable for use as currently installed. The cause is likely related to the resistance in the seabed soil, according to Mads Nipper, who added that this was a rare occurrence that the company had also seen only a few times.

In its interim report for the first half year 2024, published in August, Ørsted said the 704 MW Revolution Wind offshore wind farm would not go into full commercial operation next year but in 2026 as the construction of the onshore substation for the project was delayed.

According to the company’s latest report, the construction of the onshore substation is now progressing according to the updated project schedule, with its now-former partner Eversourche in charge of this part of the work.

The installation of Revolution Wind’s wind turbine foundations and wind turbines continues with 52 out of the total 65 foundations, nine wind turbines, and 20 inter-array cables installed so far.

The first monopile foundation was installed in May and the first of the 65 Siemens Gamesa SG 11.0-200 DD wind turbines was standing at the Revolution Wind site in September.

During the conference call, it was noted that Ørsted managed to extend the contracted period for one of the installation vessels using an option the company had secured earlier.

The Revolution Wind project is being built off the Connecticut coast, adjacent to the now-operational South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore wind farm, also built by Ørsted.

Once fully commissioned, the 704 MW Revolution Wind will generate 400 MW of offshore wind power for Rhode Island and 304 MW for Connecticut.

Until recently, Ørsted’s partner on South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind was Eversource Energy which decided to exit the projects.

At the beginning of this year, Eversource executed a definitive agreement to sell its 50 per cent stake in the two offshore wind farms to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the parent company of Skyborn Renewables, which joined Ørsted on the South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind at the end of September.

In July, Ørsted acquired Eversource’s stake in Sunrise Wind, New York’s new offshore wind farm, which is also in the construction phase with offshore work scheduled to start in 2025.

According to Ørsted third-quarter results, construction on Sunrise Wind “is progressing on a tight schedule but in accordance with our revised plan”. The developer says it expects to commission the 924 MW offshore wind farm at the end of 2026 or early 2027.