Vineyard Wind marks another installation milestone

Installation of Vineyard Wind 1 offshore power station was carried out by DEME vessel Orion [Photo: DEME]

The Vineyard Wind project offshore Martha’s Vineyard has marked another milestone. The DEME Group reports on social media that its offshore installation vessel Orion successfully installed the approximately 3,000 ton offshore substation for the Vineyard Wind 1 project.

“The installation of the offshore substation, a first in the U.S., took place after months of preparation with collaboration and dedication of all partners involved in the construction of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project, including skilled union labor from the Massachusetts Building Trades,” said DEME.

The offshore substation serves to collect the generated electricity from the wind turbines and sends the power through an export cable and into the regional electricity grid.

DEME’s team continues the installation of the 62 wind turbines, a campaign that kicked off back in May 2023. Once completed, the 800 MW Vineyard wind farm will generate electricity for more than 400,000 Massachusetts homes and businesses.

In a post on its own social media, Vineyard Wind said that, “at 3,500+ tons, the installation of the ESP [electric service platform] was the single heaviest lift during construction.” Array cables from the 62 turbines will connect to the ESP, where power will be routed to export cables that will bring renewable energy to shore, powering 400k homes.

There’s a 500 ton difference between Vineyard Wind’s and DEME’s weights, which probably goes to show that social media posts don’t necessarily get the most rigorous fact checking as to what is and what isn’t a single lift.