$861-Million NYC Wind Farm Port & Shipyard Contracts Signal Progress in Offshore Wind

Although the U.S. offshore wind industry is off to a slower start than its supporters would have liked, there are signs of progress that will translate into sales of electrical products for some electrical manufacturers, distributors, reps, as well as design and installation work for engineering firms and electrical contractors.
The June 10 announcement that Equinor broke ground on construction at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in Brooklyn, NY, kicks off the revitalization of the port facility into a hub for offshore wind on the East Coast and a key contributor to New York state's renewable energy ambitions. Total contract value for the project is estimated at $861 million. Equinor expects the 54-turbine Empire Wind project that will be supported by the port facility to provide renewable energy for 500,000 New York homes. The target to start delivering power is late 2026.
Offshore wind farms require specialized vessels to transport turbine nacelles, towers and other equipment, as well as crews, and to date the owners of wind farms have been using existing ships built in Europe and elsewhere. But according to a recent report by the American Clean Power Association (www.cleanpower.org), U.S. shipyards along the Gulf Coast, New England and in Wisconsin, Virginia and Washington are starting to get sizeable contracts to build these specialized vessels (see table below). While the shipboard navigation and electronic systems will in many cases be an OEM purchase, the expansion or retrofit of these shipyard to handle new vessel construction offers plenty of sales opportunities for electrical construction materials.
For example, the St. Johns Ship Building facility in Palatka, FL, has two crew transfer vessels (CTVs) under construction; orders for four more and one in service. According to a June 24 press release announcing the delivery of the WINDEA Enterprise ship, “St. Johns Ship Building has undergone significant transformation over the past two years, including the modernization of its shipbuilding capabilities and investment in new talent to allow concurrently efficient production of multiple vessels.”
Two Rhode Island shipyards are also quite busy. The American Clean Power Association post said Blount Boats is building four CTVs and has two others already in service, and Senesco Marine's facility in North Kingston, RI, has three CTVs in service and three under construction.
While offshore wind farms and shipyard construction projects won’t be in everyone’s wheelhouse, expect to see more requests for proposals (RFPs) for electrical construction materials coming online in New England, the New York metro, the Gulf Coast and some the other regions of the country mentioned in this article.