Sif said a delay in monopile production for the Vineyard Wind project is “ inevitable” due to a setback in the approval of the Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) for the 800MW offshore wind farm.
The Dutch company planned to begin manufacturing 84 monopiles for Vineyard Wind in the first half of 2020, but the requirement of an additional EIS is delaying the project beyond the planned schedule.
Sif emphasized it has allowed for a delay of a few months in their planning and included decision moments on the planning in their contract with Vineyard Wind and is now studying the consequences of mitigation options beyond the contractually agreed delay decision moments.
“Sif and Vineyard Wind are investigating the impact and possible mitigation of the delays caused hereby. It however has become inevitable that delays will be suffered which will impact Sif’s production planning for 2020,” Sif said.
According to Sif, if and how the delay will have an impact is not yet clear and depends on Vineyard Wind’s decision to proceed and the four to six weeks that it needs to assess the situation. Once the new schedule is received, the impact on the plan and schedule will be assessed.
To remind, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced in July it is postponing the issuance of the Vineyard Wind FEIS saying it is not yet prepared to do so. The agency recently stated that a supplemental draft EIS process needs to be undertaken.
Vineyard Wind planned to begin project construction this year and have the wind farm operational by 2022. The 800MW project will feature MHI Vestas 9.5MW turbines located some 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.