'One step closer.' Vineyard Wind begins laying foundations for offshore wind turbines

Heather McCarron, Cape Cod Times
·3 min read

In just about four hours, the first monopile tower in Vineyard Wind's offshore wind farm was installed in shallow continental shelf waters south of Martha's Vineyard last week.

Work on putting in the foundational structures for the 800-megawatt project — touted as the nation's pioneer commercial-scale, offshore wind farm — began June 7. The lease area is located about 15 miles south of the Vineyard and about 35 miles south of mainland Massachusetts.

"We’re installing the first six foundations during this campaign, and installation will continue throughout the summer," Vineyard Wind Communications Director Andrew Doba said.

In all, 62 towers will be installed, positioned one nautical mile apart. The initial work includes the monopile towers — which are driven into the seabed using a nearly 300-foot, shipboard crane. The towers will be finished with yellow transition pieces at the surface that serve as platforms for service crews and bases for the turbine towers.

The heavy lift vessel Orion carries the first monopile towers and transitional pieces to Vineyard Wind's offshore wind farm area about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. The pieces will form the foundations for the 62 turbines the company is erecting. Installation began on June 7.
The heavy lift vessel Orion carries the first monopile towers and transitional pieces to Vineyard Wind's offshore wind farm area about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. The pieces will form the foundations for the 62 turbines the company is erecting. Installation began on June 7.

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, plans to top the foundations with GE Haliade-X turbines, considered to be the most advanced in the industry. The turbines include nacelles, rotors and three blades that are each almost the length of a football field (including the end zones). The first blades arrived in New Bedford last week.

Work on erecting the turbines and attaching the blades will take place later this summer, Doba said.

The foundational work is being undertaken by the heavy lift vessel Orion operated by DEME, a contractor in offshore energy, environmental remediation, dredging and marine infrastructure. The work is being done in cooperation with a team of support vessels, including three local fishing boats — F/V Torbay, F/V Socatean and F/V Kathryn Marie — that will serve as safety and communication sentries.

Gov. Maura Healey, who places the development of clean energy among her top priorities for the state, said in a statement she is pleased with the progress on the state's first offshore wind project.

"We're thrilled to see this historic project move one step closer to completion and committed to supporting the offshore wind industry across the state," she said in the statement.

Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller said the company is committed to working with the building trades and contractors "to ensure the work is done safely and efficiently."

The first blades that will eventually be installed on Vineyard Wind's turbines at its wind farm south of Martha's Vineyard arrived during the week of June 7.
The first blades that will eventually be installed on Vineyard Wind's turbines at its wind farm south of Martha's Vineyard arrived during the week of June 7.

Here are the plans to keep whales and other sea life safe during Vineyard Wind offshore turbine installations.

Safety measures include efforts to minimize impacts on the marine habitat, which has been a big concern of project critics. According to the company, the OSV Atlantic Oceanic and the Northstar Navigator are deploying primary and secondary bubble chains. These are made up of large, perforated hoses and specialized air compressors "designed to absorb and dampen sound during foundation installation."

"The hoses are placed on the seafloor around the monopile before being filled by compressed air," the company said in a statement about the monopile installation work. "Once the hoses are inflated, the air escapes through the perforations and creates a barrier of bubbles that reduce noise."

Passive acoustic monitoring systems on fixed buoys are also being used during the monopile tower installations to monitor for marine mammal vocalizations. The fishing vessel Beth Anne is deploying the buoys at each foundation location to monitor for marine mammal presence before and during pile driving activities.

The first turbines are expected to begin operating by fall, delivering energy to shore through two 230-kilovolt export cables that have already been landed at Barnstable's Covell Beach. According to Vineyard Wind, the project will generate electricity for more than 400,000 Massachusetts homes and businesses. The company asserts that the project will ultimately save consumers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation, and will reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year — the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road annually.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, the environment, energy, science and the natural world. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on Twitter @HMcCarron_CCT

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Vineyard Wind begins offshore wind farm install off Martha's Vineyard