September 12, 2023 — Vineyard Wind and its U.S. service contractor Foss Maritime began shipping pieces for the project’s first GE Haliade-X wind turbine out of the port of New Bedford, Mass., Sept. 6 to the first installation site more than 30 miles off Cape Cod.
It was a landmark for the joint venture by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to install 804 megawatts of capacity on the first utility-scale offshore wind array in U.S. federal waters. Foss Maritime is using two purpose-built 400’ deck barges, the Marmac and Foss Prevailing Wind, for Jones Act-compliant delivery of turbine components to construction partner DEME Group’s Denmark-flagged 433’x150’ Sea Installer vessel with 300’ deep legs stationed 65 miles from New Bedford south of Martha’s Vineyard.
The barges were built using Barge Master technology that uses a patented control system and cylinders that support a platform and actively compensate the motions of the barge. The wind turbine components are fastened to the motion compensated platform for a smooth ride in ocean conditions.
“It may look easy, but the safe transportation of these components miles over the open water is no small feat,” Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Moeller said in an announcement of the first barge movement out of New Bedford. “While we’ve had many firsts, once this turbine is installed, it will stand as a proud symbol of American’s energy transition. I want to thank all of our partners for their continued collaboration and look forward to celebrating the progress of our industry.”