James Fisher Returns to South Fork Wind for Cable Testing and Termination Work - Offshore WIND
James Fisher Returns to South Fork Wind for Cable Testing and Termination Work | Offshore Wind
James Fisher Returns to South Fork Wind for Cable Testing and Termination Work
As construction work continues on New York’s first offshore wind farm, James Fisher Renewables is carrying out its second contract for the project. Following the deployment of the company’s bubble curtain during foundation installation this summer, James Fisher is now engaged in the final cable work at the South Fork Wind offshore wind farm.
The James Fisher Renewables team started working under the new contract in August 2023, overseeing the testing and termination of export and inter-array cables and working as client representatives. The company will ensure the cable termination at all twelve South Fork wind turbines and the substation meets the quality requirements and complies with all relevant industry standards.
The company says that resonance testing is in use at the site to detect and prevent installation errors, and James Fisher Renewables’ experience with this method will help ensure asset integrity.
“Our significant expertise in testing and terminations of the export and inter array cables makes us well placed to support this project. We look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure the safety and quality of the installation,” said, Maida Zahirovic, product line director at James Fisher Renewables.
As reported in 2022 and at the beginning of this year, the offshore export cable was supplied by the French cable manufacturer Nexans and the inter-array cables were delivered by the Greek cable specialist Hellenic Cables.
In August this year, Correll Group issued a press release saying the company was awarded a contract by Hellenic Cables for the termination and testing work on the project’s inter-array cables.
At the South Fork Wind site, located some 30 kilometres southeast of Block Island and some 56 kilometres east of Montauk Point, construction is well underway, with the first Siemens Gamesa 11 MW wind turbine expected to be installed in the coming days.
For James Fisher Renewables, this is the second contract for the offshore wind farm.
This summer, the company’s bubble curtain solution was utilised during the installation of wind turbine foundations for noise mitigation.
The 132 MW South Fork Wind project, developed by Ørsted and Eversource, is expected to produce its first electricity by the end of 2023.
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.