First US-Built Boat Servicing Offshore Wind Farms Is Ready to Launch
The 262-foot Eco Edison will maintain wind turbines along the East Coast.
An Orsted wind turbine in the water off Block Island, Rhode Island.
Photographer: Eric Thayer/BloombergA new boat the length of a football field, built to help operate US offshore wind farms, will be christened Saturday in New Orleans with Republican and Democratic lawmakers looking on — a show of bipartisan support for an industry that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump frequently attacks.
The 262-foot Eco Edison, bobbing in the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, is the first US-built vessel for maintaining offshore wind farms. It was built by Danish energy giant Orsted AS and Massachusetts utility Eversource Energy to service their projects in the Northeast and is a sign of the companies’ commitment to an industry that’s struggled to grow in the face of supply and cost headwinds.