Aker Solutions has signed a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract with Empire Offshore Wind LLC to study the design and delivery of concrete foundations for the turbines for the Empire Wind project in New York
Empire Wind is being developed by Equinor and bp through their 50/50 strategic partnership in the US.
Aker Solutions will analyse how to design, construct and install concrete substructures standing on the seafloor to support the turbines.
The scope also includes analysis of construction methods and models for marine operations to install the structures. The company will use its experience from previous deliveries of concrete substructures to support the partnership in defining effective solutions for the Empire Wind project.
Aker Solutions’ front-end engineering work will also benefit several US-based partners and suppliers, including construction company Kiewit Infrastructure and regulatory and permitting expert McLaren.
The FEED award for Empire Wind follows the completion of the pre-FEED won in 2019. The work starts immediately and will be completed in August 2021.
In January 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Equinor’s Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 projects had won the state’s latest offshore wind solicitation.