Revolution Wind is marking the completed construction of the project’s union-built advanced foundation components, the latest milestone for Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first large-scale offshore wind farm and the first multi-state offshore wind farm in the nation.
Rhode Island also welcomed the arrival of the offshore wind service operations vessel, the Eco Edison. “Revolution Wind is a win for Rhode Island’s environment and our economy,” said Gov. Dan McKee.
“We’re excited by the progress of this project, which is supporting good-paying jobs and propelling our state toward a stronger blue economy and a more sustainable future.” Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind is directly creating roughly 1,200 jobs across Rhode Island and Connecticut and accelerating the states’ clean-energy sectors with investments in workforce development, union partnerships, shipbuilding, and port infrastructure.
“I am delighted to participate in (the) event, which highlights the tremendous progress that the Biden-Harris Administration has made, along with our state and industry partners, toward achieving our goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “Today represents another step forward in providing clean-energy jobs and investing in our coastal communities while strengthening America’s energy security.”
Revolution Wind will have the capacity to generate 400 MW of affordable offshore wind power for Rhode Island and 304 MW of the same for Connecticut, enough clean energy to power more than 350,000 homes across both states and bring each closer to reaching their climate targets. The Eco Edison, which will be based out of ProvPort during Revolution Wind’s construction is an example of Ørsted’s $20 billion investment in building out an American clean-energy industry.
This first-ever American-built, owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel will serve as a floating, year-round home base for the turbine technicians. These techs – Rhode Islanders among them – will work at sea over the life of the wind farms, servicing and maintaining the wind turbines. The vessel will play an integral part of the operation and maintenance of Ørsted and Eversource’s Northeast projects, using Port of Quonset, Rhode Island, as well as Port Jefferson, New York.
“Rhode Island is the birthplace of American offshore wind, and the state is continuing to harness the true potential of offshore wind to transform its ports, workforce, and economy,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “Thanks to our local union and supply-chain partners and our talented construction team, we’re building and delivering Revolution Wind. And it’s only fitting that the Ocean State will host our state-of-the-art, American-made service vessel, the Eco Edison, during the construction of this historic project for New England.”
The Revolution Wind project site, about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast and 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast, is adjacent to Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind, America’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm. The site is expected to be in operation in 2025.
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