Major milestone reached as foundation installation gets underway for Vineyard Wind 1

DEME Offshore’s heavy-lift vessel Orion has installed the first of 62 foundations in the development area.

Vineyard Wind chief executive Klaus Moller said, “We can finally say it – as of today, there is ‘steel in the water.’”

“Over the next few months, we’ll be working hand in glove with the building trades and our contractors to ensure the work is done safely and efficiently. I want to thank all of our stakeholders and the entire Vineyard Wind team for this remarkable achievement on this first-in-the-nation project.”

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said, “Our administration is grateful for the important work being done by Vineyard Wind, Avangrid, CIP, DEME and labour partners to bring clean, affordable energy to Massachusetts.

“We are thrilled to see this historic project move one step closer to completion and are committed to supporting the offshore wind industry across the state.”

In addition to the vessel’s existing crew, DEME is utilising local union pile-drivers. The pile-drivers received special training to begin the project.

As part of the installation process, Vineyard Wind also deployed the offshore support vessel Atlantic Oceanic and Northstar Navigator to deploy a primary and secondary bubble curtain to reduce noise from pile driving.

Three local fishing vessels, Torbay, Socatean and Kathryn Marie, will be onsite to serve as safety and communication sentries. 

The project is also deploying a passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) system comprised of fixed buoys. Up to four PAMs will be used for real-time underwater acoustic monitoring during pile driving to characterise the presence of marine mammals by detecting vocalisations.