The US Army Corps of Engineers (ACORE) has approved Deepwater Wind’s 30MW Block Island offshore wind farm in Rhode Island.
Located around three miles off the coast of Block Island, the wind farm will feature Alstom’s 5 6MW Haliade 150 direct-drive offshore turbines, including tower sections.
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ACORE is the lead permitting agency for the project, which now has approvals from nine state and federal agencies.
Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said: "Today marks a pivotal moment not just for Block Island but also for the start of a new American industry we’re proud to be leading from here in the Ocean State.
"We’re gratified and emboldened by the thousands of Rhode Islanders and people around the world who have passionately supported our efforts since we embarked on this project more than six years ago. We’re ready to build this project and to bring new jobs and clean energy to the region."
An application for a right-of-way in federal waters for the 21-mile, bi-directional Block Island transmission system is currently being reviewed by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
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By GlobalDataThe transmission system will be used to export the power to the mainland electric grid.
The project, which has now been completely reviewed, will generate more than 125,000MW hours of energy per year, enough to power more than 17,000 homes.
Deepwater, which expects to secure BOEM’s approval shortly, plans to begin offshore construction in the third quarter of 2015 and start operating the wind farm in 2016.
Image: The Block Island offshore wind farm is expected to start operations in 2016. Photo: courtesy of xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
