America’s First Wind Farm Nearing Completion Off Block Island

Christian Winthrop·
LocalThe Buzz

The Block Island Wind Farm – America’s first offshore wind farm – remains on-schedule to be fully constructed this summer and commissioned this fall.

“It’s go time,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “We’re ready to bring this historic project across the finish line. This is sure to be a momentous summer – not just for this project, but also for the start of a new American industry.”

“Projects like the Block Island Wind Farm are the future not only of Rhode Island’s economy, but the whole country’s economy,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “With this project, Rhode Island continues to position itself as a leader and an innovator in the industries of the future.”

Block Island Wind Farm – Two up, 3 to go! from Deepwater Wind on Vimeo.

Information for Mariners: The U.S. Coast Guard has established a 500-yard exclusion zone during offshore construction. For more information, mariners can visit the Block Island Wind Farm construction page on Deepwater Wind’s website at http://dwwind.com/biwf-construction/.

A year ago, Deepwater Wind made history with the first “steel in the water” for offshore wind in America. All five steel jacket foundations were successfully installed during a busy 18-week construction period last year, with approximately 200 workers (100 of them local) and a dozen construction and transport barges, tugboats, crew ships and monitoring vessels active at the project’s port facilities and the wind farm site.

All told, more than 300 local workers are involved with building the Block Island Wind Farm. Deepwater Wind is utilizing four Rhode Island ports – at Block Island, Galilee, Quonset Point and ProvPort – to complete construction and staging.