Revolution Wind gets green light to start construction

Image: Ørsted

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued its Record of Decision approving Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind project, located about 15 nautical miles southeast of Point Judith, Rhode Island.

Ørsted says that, with this milestone, Revolution Wind — Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm — remains on track to begin onshore construction activities in the coming weeks, with offshore construction ramping up in 2024. The project is expected to be operational in 2025.

Once complete, the 704-megawatt project will deliver 400 megawatts of offshore wind power to Rhode Island and 304 megawatts to Connecticut, powering more than 350,000 homes across the two states.

“This significant federal decision reflects a thorough review and assessment of the project’s impacts by BOEM. Now, we may proceed with the project’s construction, heading into 2024 with the goal of being commercially operational in 2025,” said Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee. “The Revolution Wind project will play a significant role in advancing the state’s Act on Climate law, growing our clean energy economy, and achieving our 100% renewable energy standard objectives.”

“The extreme weather we’ve experienced this summer underscores the growing dangers and devastating effects of global warming as well as the need for bold solutions to address the climate crisis,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. “This decision from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which paves the way for Connecticut’s first offshore wind farm, is welcome news for the state’s clean energy goals, and will help improve our environmental health and drive economic growth, particularly in towns along the shoreline where staging and assembly work is occurring.”

“Revolution Wind will be key to Rhode Island and Connecticut’s clean energy future, and we’re grateful for the leadership from the Biden Administration, as well as our state partners and federal delegations, to grow the region’s offshore wind sector,” said David Hardy, group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “With the federal Record of Decision, we now advance Revolution Wind to the construction phase, bringing good-paying jobs to hundreds of local union construction workers, keeping local ports busy with assembly and marshaling activities and further growing the local supply chain. We’re excited to get to work building this important project.”

“After years of careful planning, today, we celebrate the beginning of Revolution Wind’s transition from a dream to a reality,” said Joe Nolan chairman, president, and CEO of Eversource Energy. “Having reached this important milestone, in the coming weeks we will begin onshore construction on this critical clean energy project, which will produce enough renewable energy to power more than 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and for our customers in Connecticut. We are thrilled to be getting the next phase of this project started, as we continue to deliver on our promise of investing in local communities and creating jobs for workers in the industries of tomorrow, today.”

As part of Revolution Wind, Eversource and Ørsted have already made several local investments, including:

• Committed more than $100 million in direct investment to the State Pier redevelopment project in the Port of New London, transforming the site into a state-of-the-art, heavy-lift marine terminal where Revolution Wind turbines will be staged and assembled, as well as those for Sunrise Wind. Staging and assembly for South Fork Wind is currently underway at the port.
• Established a regional offshore wind foundation component manufacturing facility at ProvPort, where Revolution Wind components are already being built.
• Partnered with two local shipyards – Blount Boats, in Warren, R.I., and Senesco Marine, in Quonset Point, R.I. – to build five new crew-transfer vessels.
• Invested $1 million to establish a training partnership with the Community College of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Rhode Island Commerce, the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council and Building Futures.
• Signed first-ever U.S. offshore wind helicopter agreement for new crew helicopters, including a $1.8 million investment in Quonset State Airport where the helicopters are based and currently supporting South Fork Wind’s construction.
• Collaborated with Waterford, Connecticut-based marine services provider Sea Services North America, and its partner fishermen in Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York to support safe navigation in and around the companies’ Northeast offshore wind farms.
• Contributed $1.25 million to Mystic Aquarium to support critical marine research and wildlife protection as well as educational programming and career resources for women and children.
• Contributed $950,000 to Groton-based Project Oceanology to launch a hands-on, inquiry-based K-12 STEM program focused on climate change, sustainability, energy generation and offshore wind.
• Partnered with Groton, Connecticut-based maritime automation technology developer ThayerMahan to monitor wildlife and seabeds in connection with the Revolution Wind.

BOEM says that, with today’s announcement, it remains on track to complete reviews of at least 16 offshore wind project plans by 2025, representing more than 27 gigawatts of clean energy.

The Record of Decision includes an extensive range of measures aimed at avoiding, minimizing and mitigating the potential impacts that may result from the construction and operation of the project. Among them, Revolution Wind has committed to establishing fishery mitigation funds to compensate losses directly arising from the project incurred by recreational and commercial fisheries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and to creating a direct compensation program to reimburse lost revenues for fisheries from other states. Additionally, Revolution Wind has committed to measures such as vessel speed restrictions and construction clearance zones to reduce the potential for impacts to protected species, such as marine mammals, sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon.