ETI & ELEVATE Block Island Wind Farm Tour
On August 12, 2022 a group of wind energy fellows, ETI/ELEVATE students and faculty, and a contingent of wind energy researchers from MIT traveled to Block Island to see the largest US offshore wind farm.
Just 45 minutes or 3.8 miles off the coast, their tour of the five-turbine, 30 MW project owned and managed by the windpower developer Ørsted began. The Alstom Haliade 150 6 MW offshore wind turbines which stand at 600 ft tall, have supplied electricity to Rhode Island residents since December 2016.
Dave Yang, Regional Operations HSE Manager for Ørsted North America, answered questions related to wind farm project siting, construction, maintenance, environmental impact mitigation, worker and environmental safety, shipping logistics, regulations and more. A fantastic and educational time was had by all. The trip was organized by Christian Hernández-Negrón, Wind Energy Fellow and ELEVATE Affiliate.
2022 Block Island Wind Farm Photos
ELEVATE students and faculty, MIT students, and tour led by the Regional Operations HSE Manager for Ørsted North America
Dave Yang of Ørsted, the company which owns and operates Block Island Wind Farm, provided insights into project siting, construction, maintenance, environmental impact mitigation, safety regulations and more.
The group enjoys a view of the wind farm from Block Island, Rhode Island.
About ELEVATE
The ELEVATE program offers fellowships to PhD students doing convergence research across disciplines on clean energy, equity and climate resilience. The program is situated within the Energy Transition Institute (ETI) and is supported by two grants totaling $6.3 million from the National Science Foundation.