A ship for windpower takes shape in Louisiana oil country

Source: Ted Jackson, Associated Press

Edison Chouest Offshore, a shipbuilding company in Louisiana, is currently constructing the Eco Edison, a 260-foot-long wind-powered vessel in the Terrebonne Parish on the Houma Navigation Canal. The ship is being built for Ørsted, a Danish company that builds and operates wind farms worldwide, and Eversource, an energy provider based in New England. The Eco Edison will be used as floating housing for offshore wind technicians and as a warehouse for their tools as they run and maintain wind farms in the Northeast. The ship is expected to be delivered next year.

Source: Ted Jackson, Associated Press

It has been widely known that offshore oil companies possess knowledge and expertise that can be applied to offshore wind, particularly in maintaining machinery in a corrosive marine environment.

As the Eco Edison is being constructed in a 120-foot-tall assembly building near the water's edge, it is still unclear how it differs from vessels built for offshore and deep-water oil rigs. However, project consultant Daryl Owen believes that there are differences. Workers wearing protective clothing use computer-driven machines to bend and weld piping sections and large steel plates. Owen pointed out the deck of a nearby oil industry supply vessel while standing near the stern of the developing ship on Monday.

The cargo will be different, too, Owen added. "That vessel's got specialty tanks, all over, below decks, for specialty chemicals, fluids... The wind guys don't need any of that."

Port Jefferson displayed on ShipXplorer.com

Unlike offshore oil platforms that serve as living quarters for the workers, the Eco Edison will be a temporary home for around 60 workers as they move from one wind turbine to another to provide maintenance.

The unveiling of the Eco Edison under construction occurred shortly after the Biden administration announced a wind power strategy to provide 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. Countries around the world are also transitioning to wind power and solar in a shift away from the burning of coal, oil, and methane gas, which contribute to climate change.

The Eco Edison is the first Jones Act-qualified wind farm service operations vessel in the U.S. Meanwhile, in Texas, Dominion Energy is constructing the Charybdis, the first offshore wind installation vessel based in the U.S. Additionally, Ørsted and Eversource have already committed to charter the Charybdis as soon as it is available.

Upon completion next year, the Eco Edison will be transported to Port Jefferson, New York, to support the maintenance of three upcoming Northeast wind farms: South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind, and Sunrise Wind. According to information, these projects are collectively anticipated to produce roughly 1.7 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, which can provide electricity to more than a million households.