- Orsted and Eversource have been contracting with several companies to develop a supply chain for their planned offshore wind installations
- In the most recent development, the partners have helped support an expansion of a subsea transmission cable facility
- Orsted and Eversource are partnering on four offshore wind developments with a capacity of more than 3.5 GW
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
Two businesses partnering on a trio of offshore wind projects off the New England coast have been ramping up their investments in supply chain providers to support these installations.
The Danish wind developer Orsted and the New England utility Eversource recently helped support an investment in the Nexans subsea transmission cable facility in South Carolina. The company said the demand from the partners is enabling them to put $220 million into expanding the business and creating 160 new jobs to build cables for the offshore wind farms as well as the international offshore wind market.
The development follows a preliminary agreement between Eversource, Orsted, and Nexans in 2019. Nexans will deliver 620 miles to Orsted and Eversource in 2022.
Orsted developed the only two offshore wind farms currently operational in the United States, a 30 MW facility off Block Island and a 12 MW facility off Virginia. Investments in offshore wind have been ramping up, with Orsted planning eight installations off New England, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Half of these projects are 50-50 joint ventures with Eversource. These include:
- South Fork: a 132 MW facility to be located 35 miles east of Montauk Point, scheduled to be operational by the end of 2023
- Revolution Wind: a 704 MW facility to be located 32 miles southeast of Connecticut, scheduled to be operational in 2025 goal to be operational in 2025
- Sunrise Wind, a 924 MW facility to be located over 30 miles east of Montauk Point, scheduled to be operational in 2025
- Bay State Wind, a 2 GW facility in the development phase to be located 25 miles off the south coast of Massachusetts
Together, these facilities would represent about 12.5 percent of the Biden administration’s goal of having 30 GW of offshore wind energy online by 2030.
Orsted and Eversource have also been awarding a variety of other contracts in recent weeks. These include a contract with Riggs Distler & Company to build foundation components for the Sunrise Wind installation at the Port of Coeymans in New York, a contact with Siemens Gamesa to supply 77 turbines to Revolution Wind and South Fork, and a contract with Siemens Energy to supply a first of its kind high voltage direct current system for Sunrise Wind. The partners are also planning to launch a $1 million workforce training initiative to support job opportunities in offshore wind.
Eversource CEO Joe Nolan, speaking at a conference held by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association in September, said he believes offshore wind will create major economic potential in Connecticut. He also cited how Orsted and Eversource are joining a $235 million effort to overhaul State Pier in New London to make it a hub for offshore wind operations. This project is underway, but has encountered challenges such as missed deadlines and a recent dispute with local longshoremen.
