Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), has announced that DEME Offshore US LLC will serve as its contractor for the offshore transport and installation of the wind turbine generators for its Vineyard Wind 1 project, the first large scale offshore wind installation in the United States.
DEME Offshore US LLC is teaming up with FOSS Maritime Company LLC, a US maritime service contractor that provides union jobs for its employees. FOSS will provide the Jones Act-compliant feeder vessels, a concept by which the wind turbines will be transported from the port of New Bedford to the specialized DEME Offshore US LLC installation jack-up vessel. The DEME Offshore US LLC office in Massachusetts will be the base of operations for activities for the Vineyard Wind project.
“We’re very excited to make this announcement today [April 1], not only because it’s an important step in the development of our first project but also because of the impact it will have on the U.S. workforce,” said Vineyard Wind CEO, Lars T. Pedersen. “The offshore wind industry has tremendous potential to create good paying jobs and investment opportunities while also reducing carbon pollution. By working with companies like DEME Offshore US LLC and FOSS Maritime, we can ensure that US labor is gaining from the experience of well-established operators, so that the industry can take proper root and grow a fully American workforce.”
Located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind 1 is slated to become the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States. With a generating capacity of 800 megawatts, the project will provide clean electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, create thousands of jobs and reduce electricity rates by $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation, the company projects. The project is also expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.68 million metric tons annually, the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road each year.
Vineyard Wind is expected to reach financial close in the second half of 2021 and begin delivering clean energy to Massachusetts in 2023.
