August 6, 2018 –Before you can build a wind farm in the ocean, you have to understand what’s on and underneath the ocean floor.
The differences between sand, silt, rocks and clay will go a long way to determining what kind of foundations can be used to hold towering wind turbines above the water’s surface and how those foundations will be anchored to the bottom.
“That data is crucial to how we build a wind farm,” said Paul Murphy, vice president of operations and engineering at Deepwater Wind.
Deepwater is set to embark on a study that could last a month or more to determine the underwater geology of 256 square miles of Rhode Island Sound about 18 miles southeast of Block Island.
There, in waters that it’s leasing from the federal government, the Providence-based company plans to install dozens and dozens of wind turbines over the next decade to supply power to New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
A liftboat brought to Rhode Island from Louisiana and retrofitted with a drilling rig at the Quonset Business Park was set to depart Sunday for Deepwater’s lease area, where it will take core samples from deep within the ocean bottom.
Once it’s in place, the specialty ship named “Supporter” will lower three tubular legs to the seabed about 120 feet below and then raise itself up about 30 feet above the water to create a stable base for drilling to proceed.
The results of the survey will be used to supplement the construction and operations plans that Deepwater must submit for approval to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the arm of the U.S. Department of the Interior that oversees all offshore energy.