Vineyard Wind 1 completes first turbine installation

Successful installation of first turbine at Vineyard Wind 1 involved a sophisticated feedering operation. [Photo: Barge Master]

Marking a milestone in U.S. offshore wind development, installation of the first GE Haliade-X Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) at the Vineyard Wind 1 project was completed this week. It was hailed as a “first-in-the-nation” achievement by Vineyard Wind developers Avangrid, Inc. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

The completed Haliade-X turbine consists of one tower, three blades, and one nacelle, and the fully assembled machine is the largest turbine in the western world, with a nameplate capacity of 13 MW capable of providing power to more than 6,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.

“Having the first offshore wind turbine in the water for the first commercial offshore wind farm in the US is an important symbolic milestone for our company, our customers, and our industry,” said Jan Kjaersgaard, CEO, GE Vernova Offshore Wind. “It shows that our teams are making tangible progress on delivering on the significant potential of offshore wind. We are particularly proud to be using our Haliade-X 13 MW turbine to support Vineyard Wind in this endeavor and look forward to continuing to work together with them and all of our partners to bring this historic project to life.”

HI TECH FEEDERING SOLUTION

Getting that first turbine completed and installed also proved the viability of the feedering solution selected for the project by Vineyard Wind. Back in April 2021 it selected DEME Offshore US LLC as its contractor for the offshore transport and installation of the turbines, with DEME Offshore US teaming up with Foss Maritime Company to provide Jones Act compliant feeder vessels to transport the wind turbines from the port of New Bedford, Mass., to the specialized foreign-flag installation jack-up vessel.

Subsequently DEME contracted with Netherlands based Barge Master to effectively turn the Foss barges into smart feeder barges, by fitting them with motion compensation platforms. It awarded another Dutch company, Seaqualize, the first contract for its newly developed offshore lifting device: the Heave Chief 1100 to compensate heave motions as components were lifted from the barges by the installation vessel.

Barge Master explains that during the feedering operations its platforms compensated the vessel motions to ensure that the tower sections remained steady throughout the lifting process while Seaqualize’s solution compensated for the vertical movements. Both technologies combined resulted in a seamless and safe lifting operation, additionally increasing the weather window significantly.

“We are extremely proud of our team’s exceptional performance in delivering a successful feeder operation for the Vineyard Wind 1 project,” said Martijn Koppert, CEO of Barge Master. “This achievement showcases our expertise in motion compensation solutions and highlights the value of our collaboration with DEME and strong U.S. parties like Foss. Together, we are contributing to the development of clean energy in the United States.”

For this project Barge Master developed the “Heavy Feeder” system, to compensate for the weight and height of the immense GE Haliade X Tower sections. This system can compensate weights of up to 1,500 tons in sea states of Hs 2.5 meters.