Ørsted and Shipbuilder Edison Chouest Christen First-Ever American-Built, Offshore Wind Service Operations Vessel
May 11 2024 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
600+ Workers Across Three U.S. Gulf States
Built a “Floating Home Base” for Offshore Wind Technicians
Supporting Ørsted’s Northeast Wind Farms
America’s offshore wind energy supply chain is marking a major
milestone, with the christening of the first-ever American-built,
owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel (SOV),
which will play a key role in enabling domestic energy production
and strengthening America’s energy independence.
U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA-01) and U.S.
Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02) joined senior executives
from American offshore wind leader Ørsted and Louisiana-based
vessel builder Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) at events in Louisiana
this weekend to celebrate the completion of the SOV, the ECO
EDISON.
The ECO EDISON, officially christened Saturday at the Port of
New Orleans by Jennifer Scalise, is the first U.S.-flagged offshore
wind SOV. An example of the major financial investments into U.S.
ports, maritime activities, manufacturing, workforce and domestic
energy by Ørsted, the vessel will play an integral part of the
operation and maintenance of Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork
Wind, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects.
Ørsted’s investment in the ECO EDISON is a testament to the
company’s commitment to building a new domestic offshore energy
supply chain. The ECO EDISON was built by more than 600 workers –
across nearly 1 million work hours – at ECO in-house shipyards in
Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, with components of the vessel
sourced from 34 states, from Alabama to West Virginia.
Ørsted’s projects are creating jobs and driving economic
development across dozens of states, with the Gulf of Mexico region
playing a central role. Several Gulf Coast companies are putting
their vast experience from other ocean-based industries to work in
this new energy sector, including companies like ECO, which has
deep expertise in offshore energy.
The state-of-the-art, 262-foot long liveaboard ECO EDISON will
serve as a floating, year-round homebase for 60 of the first
American offshore wind turbine technicians, who will work at-sea
over the life of the wind farms, servicing and maintaining the wind
turbines.
“The Gulf Coast region is playing a huge role in the growing
U.S. offshore wind supply chain, using their decades of experience
to deliver more homegrown American energy and serving as one
example of Ørsted’s more than $20 billion of investments into the
United States,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at
Ørsted. “Thank you to Edison Chouest for delivering this
milestone – building the first American-made service operations
vessel. Our team can’t wait to put her in service, with
state-of-the-art safety technologies and features to ensure comfort
at sea. We’re grateful to Leader Scalise and his wife, Jennifer,
and Congressman Carter for joining the festivities this weekend to
ready the ECO EDISON for her work advancing American energy.”
“We’re incredibly proud that our shipyards, engineers and more
than 600 shipbuilders have now delivered a U.S.-first vessel that
will support offshore wind energy for years to come for our trusted
partners at Ørsted,” said Mr. Gary Chouest, President of Edison
Chouest Offshore. “Just as several of our vessels supported the
construction of the first utility-scale offshore wind farm, South
Fork Wind Farm, so too will the ECO EDISON lead the way as this
first-ever American-made offshore wind SOV.”
The ECO EDISON will be powered by two Cat® 3512E engines from
key supplier, Houston-based Caterpillar Marine, underscoring the
vast opportunity offshore wind offers existing American
manufacturers and shipyards.
“Caterpillar Marine is committed to helping our customers reach
their most challenging goals and is proud to provide the power for
this first American-built offshore wind SOV. The U.S. EPA Tier 4
certified Cat 3512E engines are built with the highest durability
and are ready to be dual-fuel methanol converted in the future,
ensuring that Ørsted can always meet their needs, both today and
long into the future," said Brad Johnson, Vice President and
General Manager of Caterpillar Marine.
The ECO EDISON’s special-purpose design is focused on passenger
safety and comfort, enhanced maneuverability, extended offshore
endurance and reduced emissions. It includes special features like
a “walk to work” motion-compensated gangway that allows technicians
to easily and safely access the wind turbines. A smaller, so-called
“daughter” craft onboard can be deployed to efficiently maneuver
crew across the wind farms.
About Ørsted
A global clean energy leader, Ørsted develops, constructs, and
operates offshore and land-based wind farms, solar farms, energy
storage facilities, and bioenergy plants. In the United States, the
company has approximately 700 employees and a portfolio of assets
and partnerships that includes offshore wind energy, land-based
wind energy, solar, battery storage and e-fuels. Ørsted is a U.S.
leader in offshore wind energy with approximately 3 gigawatts in
development and operates both America’s first offshore wind farm,
located off the coast of Block Island, and the country’s first
utility-scale offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind. Ørsted has a
total U.S. land-based capacity of 5 gigawatts across wind, solar,
storage technologies and e-fuels. To learn more about the Ørsted
U.S. business, visit us.orsted.com or follow the company on X
(@OrstedUS), Instagram, and Facebook.
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Meaghan Wims 401-261-1641 mwims@duffyshanley.com