Deepwater Wind selects Texas firm to build steel foundations for B.I. wind farm

DEEPWATER WIND has selected Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. to construct the steel jacket foundations for the Block Island Wind Farm. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/CHRIS RATCLIFFE
DEEPWATER WIND has selected Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. to construct the steel jacket foundations for the Block Island Wind Farm. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/CHRIS RATCLIFFE

PROVIDENCE – Deepwater Wind has selected Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. to construct the steel jacket foundations for the Block Island Wind Farm, with help from a North Kingstown company.

As part of the agreement, Gulf Island Fabrication will subcontract work to Specialty Diving Services, based at Quonset Point in North Kingstown.

Texas-based Gulf Island Fabrication, a maker of specialized offshore structures, will fabricate and supply the wind farm’s five offshore foundations, which consist of steel jackets, decks and piles. Gulf Island also has teamed up with EEW, a European supplier of rolled products, on the project.
Fabrication is expected to begin early next year at Gulf Island Fabrication’s Louisiana facilities. The structures will be delivered to the wind farm site, which is 3 miles off the coast of Block Island, in the summer. Each of the foundations will weigh more than 1,500 tons, according to information from Deepwater Wind.

Welders and other workers at Specialty Diving Services will fabricate some of the foundation components.

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“Gulf Island Fabrication brings world-class, industry-leading experience to the job, and we’re thrilled to add them as a partner. We are very happy that Gulf Island Fabrication has teamed up with a great Rhode Island company like Specialty Diving Services. This team is a win-win: world-class experience and jobs for Rhode Islanders,” Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said in a statement.

Nick Tanionos, CEO of Specialty Diving Services, said that the company is excited to begin working on the first U.S. offshore wind farm.

“Rhode Island is leading the way in this new industry and it is great that Rhode Islanders will be building part of this project. This is a great opportunity for SDS and other Rhode Island companies to get involved in a new field,” Taniones said in prepared remarks.
Said Kirk Meche, Gulf Island Fabrication president and CEO, “We are excited to be a part of this project as the industry continues to explore alternative energy solutions to meet the increasing demands for power.”

This is the first of several local jobs announcements that will see Rhode Islanders playing a major role in the construction, operation and maintenance of the Block Island Wind Farm, according to Deepwater Wind.

“We remain committed to hiring as many local workers as possible to support this endeavor, and our fabrication agreement is just the start of our commitment to kick-starting a homegrown economic engine centered here in the Ocean State,” Grybowski said.

The Block Island Wind Farm remains on track to be the nation’s first offshore wind farm.

Deepwater Wind previously signed a turbine supply and long-term maintenance agreements with Alstom, which will supply the Block Island Wind Farm with five of Alstom’s 6-megawatt (MW) Haliade 150 offshore wind turbines.

Deepwater Wind selected Fred Olsen Windcarrier to provide its jack-up vessel Bold Tern for the turbine installation.

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