VIDEO: ECO Edison arrives in ProvPort

ECO Edison in ProvPort {photo; Ørsted]

Ørsted and Eversource last week marked another milestone for Revolution Wind, when Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, BOEM director Elizabeth Klein, BSEE director Kevin M. Sligh, Sr., and other federal, state and local officials and community members joined Ørsted and Eversource in ProvPort, June 13, to highlight the significant progress of Revolution Wind’s offshore construction — and to get a first hand look at Eco Edison, the first U.S.-built, U.S.-owned and U.S.-crewed service operations vessel.

More than 125 local Rhode Island union workers recently completed the assembly of Revolution Wind’s advanced foundation components at Ørsted and Eversource’s construction hub at ProvPort, more formally the Port of Providence, R.I.

“Revolution Wind is a win for Rhode Island’s environment and our economy,” said Gov. 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.”

Since reaching its historic “steel in the water” just one month ago, Revolution Wind’s construction crews have made steady progress installing the project’s turbine foundations offshore. The advanced foundation components made in ProvPort, including platforms, railings, steel ladders, and other key parts, are currently being loaded out for installation at the project site offshore.

ECO Edison, which arrived in Rhode Island last week, will be based out of ProvPort during Revolution Wind’s construction. The SOV will serve as a floating, year-round homebase for the offshore wind turbine technicians who 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.

“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 construction of this historic project for New England.”

“Our commitment to working hand in hand with local union labor is evidenced not just as the foundation components work completed at ProvPort, but also in the work underway for the onshore transmission system,” said Bill Quinlan, president of transmission and offshore wind projects at Eversource Energy. “We’re proud to bring well-paying union jobs to Rhode Islanders as we advance a project so important to the state’s energy future.”

“Today marks yet another milestone in building clean, American offshore energy resources,” said BSEE Director Kevin Sligh. “BSEE is committed to enforcing worker safety and environmental protection as we strive to achieve our clean energy goals through offshore renewable energy. This project is a prime example of how we can achieve these milestones using American resources and American workers.”

During the offshore construction period, construction and transport barges, cable installation vessels, tugboats, supply and support vessels, and protected species observer monitor vessels will be active at the offshore site. Vessel operators, engineers, welders, scientists, and dozens of others are involved in this operation. Meanwhile, onshore construction continues in North Kingstown, R.I., on the project’s transmission system.

The Revolution Wind project site, roughly 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. Revolution Wind is expected to be in operation in 2025.