FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 9, 2023
Contact: Press@vineyardwind.com
(NEW BEDFORD, MA) – Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), welcomed the arrival of the Sea Installer, the Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) that will install turbines for the first-in-the-nation project later this month. Owned and operated by the DEME Group, the vessel is one of the few world-wide capable of installing the GE Haliade-X wind turbine.
Sea Installer, which measures more than 430 feet in length and 150 feet wide, is a heavy lift jack up vessel that lifts itself out of the water on legs that are over 300 feet in length. Once elevated, the vessel becomes a platform where the recently upgraded crane, now capable of lifting more than 1600 tons, can install the tower sections, nacelle and blades for each turbine.
“When Sea Installer lifts itself up from the ocean floor and begins to install turbines for this first-in-the-nation project, we will literally be standing up a new industry in the US,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Moeller. “It’s incredibly exciting to be on the cusp of a milestone that will signal a new age for energy production in the United States. I want to thank all of our partners at every level of government, our friends in organized labor and the communities that are home to and support our project.”
“DEME is extremely proud to be part of this historic moment in the American clean energy transition as we embark on the first offshore wind turbine installation campaign in US history,” said DEME Offshore US President Bill White. “The moment is also a milestone in our company’s long history as this is the first time we will deploy our upgraded vessel Sea Installer – with its robust crane capacity of 1,600 metric tons – to install turbines. We are proud of the seamless collaboration and remarkable teamwork between DEME and the highly skilled union workers from the Massachusetts Building Trades currently working on board DEME’s Orion vessel installing offshore wind foundations. We are looking forward to creating that same dynamic on the Sea Installer as we work shoulder to shoulder toward a safe and successful installation campaign, and indeed, a more sustainsable future for our nation.”
“The arrival of this impressive vessel in Salem Harbor is the next step in Massachusetts taking its rightful place as the offshore wind leader of the United States,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Crewed by union workers, this project is also proof that we can protect our climate and create good jobs at the same time. Governor Healey and I look forward to seeing the turbines rise on Vineyard Wind. From my time as Mayor, to our work now, I’m deeply committed to standing up this new industry.”
“The Healey-Driscoll Administration is all-in on offshore wind,” said Energy & Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “The Sea Installer’s arrival to Massachusetts shores marks another historic step toward clean, affordable power flowing into the homes and businesses of Massachusetts residents. We’re especially grateful to the union workers working along the South Coast to construct the Vineyard Wind Project, and we look forward to seeing that same strong economic development come to Salem Harbor.”
“Salem is proud to welcome the Sea Installer, as it prepares to head to the Vineyard Wind site,” said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo, who also serves on the Salem Harbor Port Authority and the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council. “Our historic port city is ready to play our part as the next offshore wind marshalling terminal, serving future such installations, and helping our Commonwealth and our country take on the climate crisis with meaningful action. Where once was one of the dirtiest power plants in America, a new, green energy future will be assembled, and the arrival of Sea Installer to our port is a step forward in that critical work.”
As a part of the Project Labor Agreement, local union labor will staff this vessel, as they have for other scopes of work involving DEME’s other vessel, the Orion. The project estimates that approximately 400 union members have worked on the project to date.
“The highly-skilled men and women of Massachusetts' Building Trades Unions are all set to bring their expertise to Vineyard Wind and help drive the future of offshore wind projects in this exciting new industry,” said Frank Callahan, president of Massachusetts Building Trades Unions.
The vessel, which is too large to pass through the hurricane barrier in New Bedford, is docked at the future site of the Salem Wind Services Terminal, which U.S. maritime and logistics company Crowley plans to begin constructing in fall 2023 at the site of a decommissioned coal-fired energy plant. The terminal, a public-private partnership with Crowley, Salem and the Commonwealth, will serve as a hub for construction, maintenance and other services to develop and sustain offshore wind installations.
“Salem is an ideal, strategic location for the Wind Services Terminal to provide the supply chain and maritime solutions necessary for the success of our current and future offshore energy projects. Crowley is excited to be able to partner with the Commonwealth, City of Salem and the broader industry to make this commitment a reality and provide renewable, sustainable energy and good paying jobs benefiting the surrounding communities and beyond,” said Graham Tyson, vice president of operations, Crowley Wind Services.
"It's incredible to see this offshore installation vessel here in Salem," said Senator Joan B. Lovely. "This is the future of offshore wind. I am incredibly proud that Massachusetts, and the city of Salem in particular, are playing a critical role in advancing wind energy to help us reach our renewable energy and climate change goals."
"From New Bedford to Barnstable to Salem, today's historic milestone is just the latest example of how the burgeoning offshore wind industry is injecting new life into our coastal communities,” said State Representative Jeffrey N. Roy, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. “I applaud Speaker Mariano and the Healey-Driscoll Administration, as well as our local and private partners in the offshore wind industry, for their collective commitment to investing in Massachusetts ports and maximizing our economic development opportunities for generations to come."
"I am thrilled to welcome DEME's Sea Installer, the offshore wind installation vessel that will soon install the first turbines for the historic Vineyard Wind project, to Salem," says State Representative Manny Cruz. "This investment in offshore wind is critical to our community, to address the climate crisis and provide green jobs for our residents, and to assist in ensuring that environmental justice communities have full access to economic mobility and prosperity."
Vineyard Wind recently submitted its first annual report to the state compiled by UMass Dartmouth and Springline Research Group that found that Vineyard Wind is jumpstarting the offshore wind economy in Massachusetts.
An 800-megawatt project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years, save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation, and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road annually.
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About Vineyard Wind
Vineyard Wind LLC is an offshore wind development company that is building the first commercial-scale offshore wind energy project in the U.S., to be located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Vineyard Wind 1, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is 50 percent owned by funds of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and 50 percent by Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR). For more information, visit www.vineyardwind.com.
