Offshore wind project to power 350,000 homes set to begin construction - The Providence Journal

Offshore wind project to power 350,000 homes set to begin construction

Revolution Wind clears key hurdle. That means RI construction could begin in weeks
Alex Kuffner

PROVIDENCE – A 65-turbine wind farm that is key to Rhode Island’s climate goals has won federal approval.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on Tuesday its approval of Revolution Wind, a 704-megawatt project that would be able to power about 350,000 homes.

It is the fourth major wind farm in the nation to secure a record of decision from the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the third that would be located off the coast of southern New England.

Danish developer Orsted and utility Eversource plan to build the project in Atlantic Ocean waters between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard. The site sits about 17 miles south of the mainland Rhode Island coast.

The Biden administration has set a goal of developing 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

“And I am more confident than ever that we will meet it,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Together with industry, labor and partners from coast to coast, we are building an entirely new industry off the east and west and Gulf coasts.”

Rhode Island became the first state to become home to offshore wind in 2016 with the completion of a five-turbine test project three miles southeast of Block Island. A flurry of much larger proposals up and down the East Coast has followed the launch of the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm.

What are the other major wind energy projects in the works?

Revolution joins a trio of other projects that have cleared the federal permitting process: Vineyard Wind, an 800-megawatt project south of Martha’s Vineyard that would power Massachusetts; the South Fork Wind Farm, a 132-megawatt project near the Revolution site that would supply Long Island; and Ocean Wind 1, a 1,100-megawatt project for New Jersey that would be built off that state’s coast.

Another dozen proposals are on track to complete the federal review process by 2025, according to the Interior Department.

Orsted and Eversource are also partners on the South Fork project while Orsted is developing the Ocean Wind proposal with utility PSEG. Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish energy company Iberdrola.

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Has construction started on the wind turbines?

Offshore construction on the South Fork project and Vineyard Wind began this summer. Both wind farms have completed transmission cables, built offshore substations and started installing turbines. The smaller South Fork project is expected to be completed in the coming months and go into operation before the new year. Vineyard Wind will finish up next summer, but some of its turbines are expected to be producing energy before the end of the year.

While major environmental groups and elected leaders support the Revolution project, some fishermen and their backers are opposed, arguing that offshore wind will interfere with their livelihoods. Despite the opposition, the project cleared the primary state regulatory hurdle in May after agreeing to set up a $12.9 million fund to compensate fishermen for any losses.

That same month, Orsted and Eversource celebrated the start of fabrication of parts for the wind farm at the Port of Providence with Gov. Dan McKee and other officials.

They expect to start onshore construction for the Revolution project in a matter of weeks. Work would begin in North Kingstown, where the wind farm’s transmission cable would make landfall. Offshore construction would follow next year and the project is scheduled to go into operation in 2025.

“We now advance Revolution Wind to the construction phase, bringing good-paying jobs to hundreds of local union construction workers, keeping local ports busy with assembly and marshaling activities and further growing the local supply chain,” said David Hardy, CEO Americas at Orsted.

Rhode Island has an agreement in place to buy 400 megawatts of capacity from the wind farm while the remaining 304 megawatts will go to Connecticut.

The project is critical to meeting Rhode Island’s goal of offsetting all of its electric usage with renewable power by 2033. It would also be an important step towards meeting the mandates set by the 2021 Act on Climate, state law signed by Governor Dan McKee that requires Rhode Island get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

"The Revolution Wind project will play a significant role in advancing the state's Act on Climate law, growing our clean energy economy, and achieving our 100% renewable energy standard objectives,” McKee said.