First American-built offshore wind SOV is half complete

Edison Chouest Offshore, together with Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) and Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES), last week marked the half completion milestone for the first American-built offshore wind service operations vessel (SOV).

Shipbuilding of the US-flagged ECO EDISON, the first Jones Act-compliant wind farm SOV, is in progress in Edison Chouest’s LaShip shipyard in Louisiana. Other ECO in-house shipyards are also involved in the construction, with components of the vessel sourced from across 34 states.

Expected to be christened in 2024, the ECO EDISON will support the operation and maintenance of Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind offshore wind projects that total over 1.7 GW of capacity. It will serve as a floating, year-round homebase for 60 offshore wind turbine technicians.

America's first wind turbine installation vessel, Charybdis, is also currently under construction, in Brownsville, Texas. Ørsted and Eversource will be the first offshore wind developers to charter this ship.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!