Deepwater Wind considering fabrication locations for Revolution Wind offshore project

Deepwater Wind has selected the cities of New Bedford, Fall River and Somerset in Massachusetts as possible sites where it will assemble turbine foundations for its 400-MW Revolution Wind project in the Atlantic Ocean.

The company expects the offshore project to open 2,300 job positions and bring USD 300 million (EUR 242.1m) to the regional economy, it said in a press release on Tuesday. The construction wprk related to the fabrication activity will include welding, assembly, painting, commissioning and associated works for the turbine towers’ steel foundations.

The Revolution Wind project, currently being reviewed by state and utility officials, calls for the construction of a wind farm of up to 400 MW in the federal lease site southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. The developer has also applied for a smaller 200-MW conforming project.

FirstLight Power has agreed to pair its 1,168-MW Northfield Mountain pumped-storage facility with the planned offshore wind complex to allow it to act like a baseload resource.

Deepwater Wind said it is “actively seeking proposals” from Massachusetts boat builders for constructing purpose-built crew vessels needed for the wind project. A request for information is planned to be issued in the coming weeks as an addition to Deepwater Wind’s intentions, announced last October, to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal for construction and staging operations.

Construction on the Revolution Wind farm could start in 2022, with completion scheduled for 2023. Once completed, the complex will also be linked to a proposed offshore transmission network that will be developed under a partnership with National Grid Ventures.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.807)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!