Page 28: of Marine News Magazine (April 2019)

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ARCTIC OPERATIONS

ARCTIC (& Wind) OPERATIONS:

HANDS ACROSS THE WATER

Credit: Amplelmann

As the North American offshore wind model evolves, it is clear that ? t-for- purpose, Jones Act compliant and Arctic ready tonnage will need to be part of the equation. If so, we’ve got that box checked, with a little help from Europe.

By Rick Eyerdam s of September 2018, the Walney Extension off quired by Danish power company Ørsted, hinting at what the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind was to become the “let’s learn from Europe” movement. farm in the world at 659 megawatts. There are at Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy predicts

A least 70 major wind farms, each with hundreds of wind tur- around 22,000 MW of offshore wind from 10 states by bines, each generating as much as 10 megawatts in offshore 2030 if the U.S. can get past the Jones Act barrier or char-

England, the North Sea, Russia and China. Across the big ter European designed offshore wind vessels. Inevitably, so pond, in Canada, the offshore wind industry is even less de- it seems, American wind farm developers have ? nally ac- veloped than in the U.S. The ? rst ever project, the 180MW cepted the vast experience and innovation of Norway and

St. George’s Bay project, is still in the development stage. Denmark and adapted it to Jones Act construction of Eu-

The United States has one little offshore wind farm, ropean vessel designs.

Rhode Island’s ? ve-turbine, 30-megawatt Block Island project. But the developer, Deepwater Wind, shipped the NASCENT STIRRING IN THE COLONIES ? ? ve General Electric nacelles across the Atlantic aboard the The ? rst t-for-purpose wind support vessel in fact

Fred. Olsen Windcarrier and then used the barge for instal- emanated from the UK, whose design was used to con- lation of the full turbines at Block Island, thus avoiding struct the ? rst US-built and operated offshore wind farm

Jones Act restrictions. U.S. ? agged feeder barges assisted by crew transfer vessel. The Atlantic Pioneer, built in 2015 in transporting the towers and blades from shore. The scope Rhode Island by Blount Boats, is a 21 meter aluminum also included marine engineering, lift engineering, general vessel that was designed by South Boats, a pioneer in de- operations planning, the design, fabrication and mobiliza- signing and manufacturing crew transfer vessels. Prior to tion of grillage and sea fastening and lift supervision. Earlier this historic achievement, South Boats had built approxi- this year, the project’s developer, Deepwater Wind, was ac- mately 81 crew transfer vessels for the European offshore

April 2019 28 MN