Van Oord awarded subsea rock installation contract for 2 GW Offshore wind farm in USA

Empire Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Equinor and BP, has selected a consortium comprising Van Oord and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) as main contractors for subsea rock installation works related to the development of 816 MW Empire Wind I and 1230 MW Empire Wind II in the USA. 

Van Oord’s scope involves preparing the seabed with the placement of filter rock prior to the installation of monopile foundations. This will be executed by the flexible fall pipe vessel Stornes. GLDD will install armor rocks as a stabilization and protection layer after the monopiles have been installed. The consortium plans to start operations at the Empire Wind I and II sites in the mid-2020s.

The wind farms are planned for an area located 32 kilometers south of Long Island. Once completed, they will include up to 174 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of about 2 GW. The generated power will be enough to provide for around 1 million households in New York.