A centerpiece of the region’s blue economy, Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind is directly creating roughly 1,200 jobs across Rhode Island and Connecticut and accelerating the states’ clean energy sectors with significant investments in workforce development, union partnerships, shipbuilding, and port infrastructure.
Revolution Wind will utilize 65 Siemens Gamesa turbines, the same 11-megawatt turbine model used at the recently completed South Fork Wind. Once in operation, Revolution Wind will have the capacity to generate 400 megawatts of clean, affordable offshore wind power for Rhode Island and 304 megawatts of the same for Connecticut, enough to power more than 350,000 homes and bring both states closer to reaching their climate targets.
“This is a monumental moment for Revolution Wind, the Northeast region, and Rhode Island,” said Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee. “The installation of the first turbine speaks to the strong private and public partnership driving the project forward. Rhode Island is excited to build upon this progress and lead in clean energy and the offshore wind economy for decades to come.”
“Revolution Wind is going to have a major impact in the Northeast when it comes to delivering clean energy,” said Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. “The completion of this first turbine represents a milestone as we work towards decarbonizing our electric grid while also creating new, good-paying jobs in this growing sector for Connecticut residents.”
Revolution Wind’s offshore construction phase is powered by hundreds of union workers, three Northeast ports, and a variety of vessels—all supporting work to install the wind farm’s foundations, two offshore substations, inter-array and export cables, and wind turbines. All the work is done according to Revolution Wind’s local, state and federal approvals and with the strictest safety standards.
Meanwhile, offshore construction crews continue to make steady progress installing the foundations for the turbines, with more than three-quarters of the foundations now in place offshore.
Three New England ports are playing central roles in the effort to build Revolution Wind:
- State Pier in New London, Connecticut, is serving as the staging and marshaling port for the project, where the turbines are being assembled by local union labor. Ørsted and Eversource have invested more than $100 million in the State Pier redevelopment project.
- In Providence, crews are handling loadout of the advanced foundation components, which were built by more than 125 local union workers at Ørsted and Eversource’s construction hub at ProvPort. Ørsted and Eversource invested $100 million in the work at their ProvPort hub, making it the largest offshore wind supply chain investment in Rhode Island’s history.
- The ECO EDISON, the first-ever American-built, owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel, is based out of ProvPort during Revolution Wind’s construction.
- Revolution Wind’s crew helicopters and Rhode Island-built crew transfer vessels are based out of that state’s Quonset Point.
Onshore construction continues in North Kingstown, R.I., on the project’s transmission system.
