Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Awarded Offshore Wind Rock Installation Contract

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD), the largest provider of dredging services in the United States, is continuing its growth into the offshore wind power sector with the announcement that Empire Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Equinox and British energy company BP, has chosen GLDD in consortium with Van Oord to perform subsea rock installation for two East Coast wind farms.

The Empire Wind I and Empire Wind II farms are expected to supply more than 2 gigawatts of energy to the state of New York.

For the project, Great Lakes will use its forthcoming subsea rock installation vessel—the first Jones Act-compliant vessel of its kind—which is currently under construction at Philly Shipyard. The vessel will install rocks that will protect and stabilize monopile foundations, electrical substructures and export cables. The project will get underway in the next few years with Empire Wind I, with Empire Wind II to follow. Van Oord will use its flexible fallpipe vessel, Stornes, to lay rock prior to installation of monopile foundations.

“The consortium of Great Lakes with Van Oord combines the experience of Van Oord, the global market leader in subsea rock installation, with Great Lakes, the only U.S. marine contractor to invest in building the first Jones Act-compliant fallpipe vessel purpose-built for the U.S. offshore wind market,” said Lasse Petterson, president and CEO of GLDD. “This unique combination offered a competitive advantage in terms of experience, equipment availability, local content and knowledge of labor and regulatory environments in the U.S.”

Staten Island Base

GLDD will purchase rock from New York quarries and use its own marine base in Staten Island, N.Y., for its site operations.

“This award by Equinor and BP solidifies Great Lakes’ entry into the U.S. offshore wind market with a major project award for one of the flagship offshore wind developments for the state of New York,” said Eleni Beyko, senior vice president of offshore wind for GLDD. “We are very happy to support New York in building a more sustainable future. We have a long track record working with the state and the local unions and supply chains, having executed dredging projects in New York for many decades. Our goal now is to contribute to building the U.S. offshore wind industry, while creating local employment and economic activity in the state.”

With 131 years in existence, GLDD owns and operates a dredging fleet made up of about 200 vessels.