The consortium between Van Oord and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has been selected by Empire Offshore Wind as main contractor for subsea rock installation works at Empire Wind I & II. This offshore wind development on the East Coast of the United States will provide renewable energy to the state of New York.
Empire Offshore Wind is a joint venture between Equinor and bp.
Van Oord’s scope involves preparing the seabed with the placement of filter rock prior to the installation of monopile foundations. This will be executed by the flexible fallpipe vessel Stornes. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) will install armour rocks as a stabilisation and protection layer after the monopiles have been installed.
Also read: Van Oord wins land reclamation project in the Maldives
The collaboration between Van Oord and GLDD has been an important factor for winning this project. Van Oord joins forces with GLDD who is currently building its own Jones-Act compliant fallpipe vessel. This combination offered a competitive advantage in terms of experience, equipment usage, local content and regulations. The consortium plans to start operations at the Empire Wind I and II sites in the mid-2020s.
Local content
Due to the geographical location of Empire I and II on the East Coast of the United States, GLDD has ample access to rocks produced from domestic quarries. This is an important requirement in terms of generating local content related to materials and employment in the state of New York.
Also read: Huisman lands US contract for rock installation equipment
The wind farms are planned for an area 32 kilometres south of Long Island. When complete, it consists of up to 174 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of about 2 gigawatts. The renewable power generated is sufficient to supply around 1 million households in New York.
The project is considered a flagship offshore wind development, shaping the future of this industry in the United States.
