Photos taken throughout shipyard tour give an thought of the spectacular dimension of the primary U.S.-built SOV [Photo: Ørsted]
The first American-built offshore wind service operations vessel (SOV), the 262-foot ECO Edison has reached its 50% development milestone on the Edison Chouest LaShip yard in Houma, La., and senior officers from Ørsted and Eversource had been this week joined by House majority chief Steve Scalise, whose district contains Houma, to tour the yard and see the progress on the vessel.
Reaching the 50% milestone on this primary U.S.-built SOV has seen greater than 275,000 work hours logged so far, with no lost-time accidents and the VIP group met with members of the Chouest household and among the 400 native employees constructing the SOV throughout their tour.
“This shipyard and this vessel are living proof that American offshore wind energy is providing economic opportunity and creating jobs today across the country,” mentioned David Hardy, group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “This first American service operations vessel represents the ingenuity of businesses like Edison Chouest to build upon their legacy in offshore energy and to supply a cutting-edge vessel that will allow workers to safely and effectively operate offshore. The offshore wind energy industry is utilizing the talented and expert Gulf Coast workforce, and we’re proud that this first-of-its-kind vessel will support the production of more American energy, strengthening our national security and powering millions of American homes.”
“Offshore wind is a key driver of economic growth, creating well-paying jobs in states across the country and forging a new, domestic supply chain that, together, will position our nation as a global leader in the industries of tomorrow, today,” mentioned Mike Ausere, vice chairman of enterprise growth at Eversource Energy. “This vessel is a testament to American leadership: Designed and built in the United States; as long as the Superdome is tall; able to host 60 wind turbine technicians – all whom will benefit from the vessel’s state-of-the-art accommodations to keep them safe and well-cared for while at sea; and ready to support the long-term operations and maintenance of our portfolio of offshore wind farms and consequent production of enough energy to power more than a million U.S. homes.”
“We’re proud to put our expertise to work on such an important vessel for the offshore wind industry’s future American fleet,” mentioned Gary Chouest, president of Edison Chouest Offshore. “Thanks to our decades of experience in offshore industries, our in-house engineers, and the hard work of more than 400 of our shipbuilders, we’re now more than 50% complete on this historic, specialized vessel that will serve as a model for the U.S. offshore wind industry and a homebase for American offshore wind technicians for years to come.”
The ECO Edison is being constructed at Chouest in-house shipyards in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, supporting lots of of jobs, with parts of the vessel sourced from 34 states.
Ørsted, Eversource and Edison Chouest anticipate to christen the ECO Edison in 2024, and the vessel will play an integral a part of the operation and upkeep of Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind initiatives, collectively deliberate to generate greater than 1.7 gigawatts of offshore wind vitality, sufficient to energy greater than one million properties. The vessel can be based mostly in Port Jefferson, New York.
