Duke Energy Renewables signs services pact with Deepwater Wind for its Block Island Wind Farm

Duke Energy Renewables today announced it has signed an agreement with Deepwater Wind Block Island to perform remote monitoring and control services for the first offshore wind project in the United States, the Block Island Wind Farm, located off the coast of Block Island, R.I.

Duke Energy's Renewable Control Center (RCC) will supply 24/7 monitoring and control services, data acquisition, performance analysis and reporting when the project begins commercial operation in November.

The RCC also will perform energy market and dispatch services for the Block Island Wind Farm, serving as point of contact with ISO New England, the regional transmission organization.

"Duke Energy is a proven leader in renewable energy monitoring services and their expertise will provide reliable, real-time monitoring and critical analysis of the Block Island Wind Farm's operations," said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. 

"We will leverage our vast operational experience and our advanced, secure control center to increase the performance and reliability of the Block Island Wind Farm," said Rob Caldwell, president, Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology.

Duke Energy's RCC, located in Charlotte, N.C., is registered as a generator-operator with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and provides critical monitoring services for 4,500 MW of renewables from third-party and Duke Energy Renewables' sites.

"We are currently implementing additional cyber security controls to meet NERC's Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) requirements," said Jeff Wehner, vice president of Duke Energy Renewable Operations. "Offering the advanced technology and security of a CIP-compliant control center to others in the renewables industry, like the Block Island Wind Farm, saves customers the significant investment of building a control center of their own."

Deepwater Wind completed construction on the 30-megawatt (MW) Block Island Wind Farm in August. GE Renewable Energy is the project's turbine supplier, providing the five, 6-megawatt Haliade wind turbines for the wind farm.

The RCC is contracting with two companies to provide additional services for the Block Island Wind Farm. Grantek Systems Integration is supplying plant network, SCADA design and engineering services. Philadelphia-based Customized Energy Solutions is providing scheduling, settlement and reporting services.