US: Turbine Blades Arrive in Rhode Island; Crews Readying for Busy Construction Season

Yesterday morning, local stevedores began offloading the 15 blades at the Providence port facility. The blades, and the tower sections already assembled there, are scheduled to travel by boat to the Block Island Wind Farm site in the beginning of August.

GE is supplying the 6-megawatt Haliade 150 offshore wind turbines for the Block Island Wind Farm. The blades were built in Denmark by GE’s subcontractor, LM Wind Power.

Meanwhile, installation of the submarine cables for the wind farm and the Island’s new connection to the mainland are making significant progress: The 6.5-mile submarine cable connecting the wind farm to Block Island has been installed. In addition, National Grid’s 17-mile sea2shore cable connection between Block Island and mainland Rhode Island reached a major milestone last week with the successful landing of the cable on Block Island’s shore. In July, Deepwater Wind will complete the cable connections between the wind turbines themselves.