Crews work on the 260-foot-long vessel Eco Edison in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, along the Houma Navigation Channel, Monday, April 3, 2023. The vessel will serve as a floating home for U.S. Marine Wind Technicians and a warehouse for their tools for the operation and maintenance of wind farms.
HOUMA, La. (AP) – In Louisiana’s Bayou Country, where oil rig supply ships are as much a part of the waterfront landscape as shrimp boats, a new kind of maritime giant is taking shape that marks the growing presence of the ‘marine wind energy in energy. seascape
Louisiana shipbuilding giant Edison Chouest Offshore is assembling the 260-foot-long Eco Edison in coastal Terrebonne Parish along the Houma Navigation Channel.
It is being built for Ørsted, a Danish company that builds and operates wind farms around the world, and Eversource, a New England energy provider. When delivered next year, the vessel will serve as floating housing for US marine wind technicians and storage for their tools as they operate and maintain wind farms in the Northeast.
Officials from the three companies gathered Tuesday under the bow of the unfinished vessel to mark construction progress and hail the role the offshore oil industries are playing in the development of offshore wind generation. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana attended.
It has long been understood that offshore oil companies have valuable knowledge for offshore wind, for example how to maintain machinery in a salty marine environment.
The differences between the Eco Edison and vessels built for deepwater and offshore oil rigs are not yet apparent as the skin and bones of the sleek vessel take shape in a 120-foot assembly building d height But the differences are there, said Daryl Owen, a consultant on the project. Workers in protective clothing had computer-driven machines bending and welding sections of pipe and large steel plates. Standing near the stern of the vessel under development Monday, Owen pointed to the deck of a nearby oil industry supply vessel.
“That’s a whole lot of open space for cargo,” he said. “This ship won’t have that. It has a lot more living space for the workers.”
The load will be different, Owen also added. “This ship has specialized tanks all over the place, below deck, for special chemicals, fluids… The wind guys don’t need any of that.”
While offshore oil rigs typically serve as housing for the workers who service them, the Eco Edison will be the temporary home of about 60 workers as it moves from turbine to turbine to provide maintenance.
Tuesday’s unveiling of the work in progress comes nearly a week after the Biden administration announced a wind energy strategy aimed at providing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
Globally, countries are building wind and solar power in a shift from the burning of coal, oil and methane gas that cause climate change.
But it also came days after House Republicans approved legislation to dramatically increase domestic fossil fuel production and ease permitting restrictions that delay pipelines, refineries and other projects.
Louisiana politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, have been critical of the administration’s attempts to curb drilling. And oil and gas remains a major employer and driver of Louisiana’s economy. But they are also embracing the state’s role in helping the offshore wind industry take off.
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards recently announced that Shell will invest $10 million with New Orleans-based Gulf Wind Technology for a project to develop turbine components designed to operate in the Gulf.
Wind turbines won’t be popping up in Gulf waters right away. Although the Biden administration is considering the first offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, there are challenges to address, including slower wind speeds.
But Gulf cities and companies are “a big part” of what will make the offshore wind industry successful, said David Hardy, regional managing director of Ørsted Americas. In turn, offshore wind developers are creating good-paying jobs in the Gulf and giving companies a way to diversify to take advantage of the opportunities of the energy transition, he added.
Ørsted and Eversource say they are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in shipbuilding on the Gulf Coast. More than 400 shipbuilding workers with Edison Chouest Offshore have worked at Eco Edison so far. Parts of the boat have been manufactured at ECO facilities in Florida and Mississippi and shipped to Houma.
“People think of offshore wind and they think of jobs where the wind farms are. But the reality is that jobs are being created all over the country,” Hardy said.
Due to century-old laws, only a qualified US-flagged vessel can transport people and goods between US ports. The Eco Edison is the first Jones Act qualified wind farm operations vessel in the United States. In Texas, Dominion Energy is building the first US-based offshore wind installation vessel, the Charybdis. Ørsted and Eversource first signed up to lease it.
Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Energy Association, said the Gulf region is poised to become “the economic engine” of the offshore wind industry because of its highly energy-intensive workforce. qualified Major offshore developers are struggling to invest billions of dollars to build a fleet of specialist vessels, he added.
When the Eco Edison is completed next year, it will go to Port Jefferson, New York, to serve three planned Northeast wind farms, South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind. Together, these projects are expected to generate about 1.7 gigawatts of offshore wind power to power more than a million homes.
_________
McDermott reported from Providence, RI
_________
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage is supported by several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
