Wind industry comes to New London
Greg Smith
On a hot and humid afternoon, a cement truck rolled along a dirt roadway on the perimeter of the newly expanded State Pier complex in New London, its destination one of the two heavy-lift platforms that eventually will be used to load wind turbine components onto barges.
The activity at the pier on this late summer Wednesday is related to the remaining construction projects needed to complete the $309 million in upgrades to the 40-acre site. But the wind industry has moved in, dominating the grounds of the pier with massive wind turbine components being prepped for shipment to the waters 35 miles off the coast of Montauk Point in New York.
While they were stationary on this day, the wind turbine components are destined to become part of Danish wind company Ørsted’s and Eversource’s South Fork Wind, a 12-turbine wind farm that is the first of three projects expected to be staged in New London.
The project will generate renewable energy and power 70,000 homes on Long Island. It is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
And while Eversource has announced an exit from its offshore wind investments, selling its stake in a 187,000-acre undeveloped lease area off Massachusetts to its partner Ørsted for $625 million and seeking a buyer for its 50% stake in three planned wind farms. Eversource said the utility is expected to realize a loss in the sell-off of between $220 million to $280 million.
Ørsted has agreed to take over Eversource’s 50% share of the lease at State Pier in New London, along with the Port of Providence, the Port of Davisville and Quonset Point in Rhode Island.
Aside from South Fork Wind, State Pier is expected to be the staging and pre-assembly grounds for two other offshore wind projects. Preliminary work is already underway on Revolution Wind, a 65-turbine wind farm that is supposed to be the first wind farm to provide wind power to Connecticut.
Though the occupation of State Pier is a sign of continued progress, Ørsted’s continued commitment to its wind projects and the viability of Revolution Wind has been called into question as the company faces surging costs to build those projects.
Ørsted Chief Executive Officer Mads Nipper, Bloomberg reported last week, said supply-chain glitches and soaring interest rates led to a 37% drop in Ørsted shares. The investor sell-off saw the company lose $8 billion in value last week.
Revolution Wind is in the first phase of onshore construction and has components for the foundations of the wind turbines being assembled at the Port of Providence. Ørsted, in a statement to The Day last week, did not directly address the possibility of Revolution Wind being delayed or scrapped altogether but said “the U.S. offshore wind industry remains attractive.”
Connecticut Port Authority Interim Director Ulysses Hammond expressed confidence in Ørsted’s commitment to the U.S. offshore wind market and State Pier. The port authority has in place a 10-year lease agreement with Ørsted and Eversource and a guaranteed $20 million. The city of New London has a host community agreement that guarantees at least $5.25 million over seven years with provisions to obtain more.
Closeup view of State Pier
Hammond led a tour of State Pier on Wednesday, providing an up-close view of the scale of the offshore wind components and the equipment used to move them.
There are four nacelles at the pier, essentially gear boxes that are the size of small homes that contain the machinery to convert the motion of the turbine blades into electrical power.
Twelve 320-foot long blades ― four complete sets ― are lined up on a 7-acre portion of the pier that used to be water but was filled in during construction of the pier to create a larger Central Wharf area. The blades, end to end, are twice as tall as the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.
The towers sections ― all 48 sections in New London are needed to complete 12 turbines ― which support the blades and nacelles and will rise hundreds of feet above the ocean atop foundations. The insides of the towers will need to be outfitted with electrical components before shipment.
The components are moved around, loaded and offloaded from State Pier with cranes imported by wind turbine producer Siemens Gamesa. The largest of the two cranes is a 500-foot-tall Liebherr that can lift 350 tons.
When they are ready for shipment, two tower sections will be connected and shipped to be assembled on site. The 11-megawatts wind turbines will stand nearly 800 feet tall once assembled.
The components, partially assembled, will be moving out in the coming weeks on barges. Under the 1920 Jones Act, only ships built, owned and operated by U.S. citizens are permitted to carry cargo between points in the U.S. Hammond said training was conducted for marine pilots and tugboat operators specifically to be able to navigate local waters with the offshore wind components.
The first U.S.-based wind turbine installation vessel, the Charybdis, is under construction in Texas and expected to arrive in New London in 2024 or 2025. The Charybdis is 472 feet long and 184 feet wide with a crane with a boom length of 426 feet. Hammond said the ship will be hard to miss from most places along the coast.
Hammond said he expects work on the much-scrutinized State Pier construction project, of which the state is paying about two-thirds of the cost, to be completed by the end of the year.
One of the major hurdles to completion of construction remains the south end of the pier, where workers continue to drive 42-inch piles and install the metal sheets that will buttress the entire end of the widened pier.
Asked whether he thought the investment was worth it, Hammond said the underutilized port needed to be upgraded, and the work that has been done provides new opportunities for the region, even outside of the wind industry.
Heavy-lift capacity port
Aside from the lease, Hammond pointed toward the ongoing work, and said the investment in the aging and underutilized facility will remain a boon to the state – wind or no wind. While it was designed to accommodate the oversized wind turbine components, the facility will remain a heavy-lift capacity port, “something it never was.”
What it means, he said, is that the pier can accommodate incoming cargo – things like cars or tractor equipment, steel or lumber along with traditional cargo containers. And while offshore wind is not presently making use of the freight rail on site, it remains an option for other cargo.
“It’s about cargo capability,” Hammond said. “Whenever there is any down time from offshore wind activity, CPA and Gateway will be marketing this facility for heavy-lift cargoes from around the world. We have additional capacity we never had in the Northeast.”
“This is a state asset that is not just here for offshore wind. Offshore wind has given us the ability to develop this,” Hammond said.
Stamford train station garage delayed several months, state says. Here's why.
Jared Weber
STAMFORD — The end date for construction on the Stamford train station's long-awaited new parking garage has been pushed back to early November, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Shannon Burnham, a spokesperson for CTDOT, said the project team installed a 320-foot pedestrian bridge last week connecting the parking garage to the northern portion of the train station's main building. The bridge will provide entry near Java Joe's, a train station-based coffee shop.
"Enclosed glass walls, concrete flooring, and a ceiling will be installed next in the pedestrian bridge truss," Burnham said.
The new garage was initially slated to be completed by the end of summer. Burnham attributed the delay to issues with the supply chain and availability of materials.
In addition to the garage, the Stamford Transportation Center is undergoing a slew of other improvements. Burnham provided an update to one of those projects — replacing sections of shaky ceilings throughout the facility.
Part of one of those concrete ceiling sections collapsed in a stairwell in spring, which officials attributed to the failure of the anchors used to secure it.
"Permanent ceilings and lighting fixtures for these ceiling sections in the STC are currently being designed," Burnham said.
New London Launches $36M Lead Pipe Replacement Project
Cate Hewitt,
NEW LONDON — The city is embarking on a $36 million project to replace lead service water pipes with new copper lines for about 3,300 residences.
“This is a proactive measure the city’s taking. We don’t have any lead violations or issues with our drinking water, or any consent orders or any requirements by the state or the federal government to remove these lines. We’re doing this proactively with the understanding that at some point in time, everyone’s going to be required to remove all of these lines anyway, so we wanted to get ahead of it,” public utilities Director Joe Lanzafame told CT Examiner on Friday.
While a number of municipalities are planning to replace their lead service pipes, New London appears to be first in the state to reach the construction phase, according to a state project priority list.
The three-phase project will be funded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will provide three installments of approximately $5 million; and the state Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program, administered by the Department of Public Health, with a subsidy of up to 30 percent of the project. The remaining funds – about $9 million – will be paid for using monies from the city’s surcharge fund and a 20-year low-interest loan.
Lanzafame said the city will bond for the full amount – fully covered by federal, state and surcharge funding – but in amounts separated into three phases for three areas of the city that were based on median household income and the census tract.
Funding and cost of the New London lead service replacement project (Arcadia Engineering).
Lanzafame said the city started an inventory of its lead service pipes about five years ago and has identified about 3,300 properties out of the 6,000 that have public water service.
The city is well ahead of the state Department of Health’s October 2024 deadline for municipalities to complete an inventory of lead service lines, he said. The state program is based on an federal Environmental Protection Agency initiative.
“The inventory is not due until October of 2024, so no one is late, we’re just early,” he said.
Lanzafame said the preferred and most cost-effective method of pipe replacement is known as “pulling pit,” in which the existing pipe is replaced simultaneously with the new copper pipe, which minimizes the amount of disturbance.
“The goal is to have the least amount of disturbance on the line because the lead line is better left undisturbed than it is replaced in part. You’re less likely to have lead release on a line if you replace the whole thing,” he said.
Lanzafame said the average cost to replace a residential water service line can range from $5,000 to over $15,000.
“Having an identified lead service line could pose a challenge when selling a home,” Lanzafame said. “But what I really want to stress is that this is a major home improvement for the property owner at no direct cost to them, and a major infrastructure project that can bring the entire city in compliance with EPA regulations.”
Residents will be asked to sign a waiver to allow the city to perform the work, and they have the right to refuse the pipe replacement, according to a news release. The work at each property is expected to last less than one day and property owners will be provided with bottled water while work is underway.
Lanzafame said the project has been put out to bid with a deadline of Sept. 27, and if the City Council approves the bond, work could begin mid-November.
An information session about the program is scheduled for Sept. 13 at 6 p.m at the Senior Citizens Center, 120 Broad St.