Four years after the Block Island project first put wind turbines in American waters, the second U.S. 离岸风力发电场即将在弗吉尼亚海滩30英里处拔地而起, 它发生在大流行的中期.

只有两个涡轮机, the 弗吉尼亚海岸海上风能 pilot is tiny; and with a price tag of $300 million, 对于这种规模的发电设备来说，这是非常昂贵的. But 统治 sees the 12-megawatt project as a critical stepping-stone to its planned multi-gigawatt offshore wind empire in the Mid-Atlantic region, 马克·米切尔说, 他是电力公司发电项目的负责人.

经过多年的许可和准备, the installation of the turbines and their foundations should be finished over the next six weeks or so, 米切尔在接受采访时说. 该项目是美国为数不多的大型项目之一.S. 不属于欧洲开发商的水域.

汽轮机的主要部件, 全欧洲制造, 一直在哈利法克斯等吗, 新斯科舍为专门的安装船航行. 统治证实，这艘船于周日从欧洲抵达加拿大.

The vessel will transport the foundations down to the project site and install them in the “late May, 6月初时间表,米切尔说. 然后，它将返回哈利法克斯，安装一对西门子歌美飒涡轮机, 在六月的最后几周安装它们.

海底电缆和其他工作将持续几个月. 到2020年底, 统治 will join Deepwater Wind (now Ørsted) as one of just two developers to drag a U.S. offshore wind project over the finish line — and the first to do so in federal waters.

在一个痴迷于规模的市场中，一个小小的项目

One of offshore wind's most important attributes is its scale: skyscraping turbines, horizon-crowding projects and multibillion-dollar price tags that make even infrastructure funds blush.

相比之下，弗吉尼亚海岸的飞行员是一条小鱼. And at an estimated $300 million for a 12-megawatt facility — excluding financing costs — the project's price tag has raised eyebrows and drawn concerns, 包括 弗吉尼亚州监管机构批准的. 成本，包括任何超支，都将转嫁给自治领的纳税人.

自治领飞行员的高成本, 以每兆瓦装机和每兆瓦时发电为基础, 反映了该项目规模小和美国的不成熟.S. 海上风电市场. 今天没有本地供应链可言，更不用说有竞争力的供应链了.

The turbines were manufactured by 西门子盖姆 in Denmark and the foundations by EEW in Germany. 统治 made several unsuccessful attempts to get competitive bids for the engineering, 采购及建造工作, 根据一份监管文件(PDF). 最终, it awarded the EPC job to two vendors without competing bids: Ørsted is handling offshore construction, 和L.E. 迈尔斯岸上工作.

丹麦的Ørst, 世界领先的海上风电开发商, 一般不是在为其他公司建造项目吗, but 统治's EPC job came with the exclusive right to negotiate a partnership for the 2.6千兆瓦的项目即将到来.

Mitchell argues that the two-turbine demonstration was a prudent step before leaping toward gigawatts worth billions. 统治公司知道如何建造很多东西，但海上风电是一个新的篇章. “我不能派人去检查涡轮机."

米切尔说，这个试点项目的价值体现在几个方面. 开始, both the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (part of the Department of Interior) and 统治 had to learn what it meant to permit an offshore wind farm in federal waters. “我们在很多案件中都开创了先例." Two dozen gigawatts of offshore wind are set to follow 统治 through BOEM’s process over the next decade. “从开始到结束，我们都是第一个这样做的人." 

与此同时, the pilot's location adjacent to 统治's larger project site means much of the permitting and subsea survey work done so far will be useful for the bigger wind farm to come. 当飞行员的两个涡轮机在今年晚些时候启动并旋转时, they will offer real-world production data that 统治 can use to plan its future projects. 

甚至在第一个涡轮机启动之前, “我们已经了解了很多关于海上风电的知识米切尔说。.

第一个U.S. 海上风力装置船 

The Coastal Virginia pilot will also get wheels spinning in the local supply chain in a way that could pay dividends when it comes to 统治's bigger project. 

统治 is counting on an increasingly localized supply chain to help drive down costs at future projects, and the utility believes Virginia could emerge as a major offshore wind manufacturing and logistics hub, 米切尔说. 弗吉尼亚最近通过了 清洁经济法, 到21世纪30年代中期，这需要超过5千兆瓦的海上风电, 加强了对未来的支持.

If the installation vessel’s back-and-forth pathway between Nova Scotia and Virginia sounds extremely circuitous, 那是因为事实就是如此. The 100-year-old Jones Act requires that goods shuffled between American ports only be carried by U.S.标记血管. 但是，今天已经没有悬挂美国国旗的海上风电安装船了, leaving 统治 to park its components in Canada during the construction process.

这对市场来说是一大步, 统治 recently confirmed plans to join a consortium of investors that will build the 第一次你.S. 海上风力装置船预计将于2023年投入使用.

这样的船, 可能要花费数亿美元, 对一家美国电力公司来说是一笔不寻常的投资. In addition to 统治’s own wind farms, the vessel will contract with other projects. CFO James Chapman told investors earlier this month that 统治 expects to make “infrastructure-style returns” from its stake.

在研究了欧洲市场之后, 自治领决定，拥有这样一艘船是“风险最低的”, “成本最低”的选择，因为它正在为其数十亿瓦的建设做准备, 米切尔说.

西门子歌美飒在弗吉尼亚州的工厂?

西门子盖姆, 总部设在西班牙, made waves earlier this year when an executive said the company was “actively considering” building a factory in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region.

A 西门子盖姆 spokesperson told GTM the company is looking at ways to support local offshore wind content in "various states," adding that "blades have been the primary focus of our investigations in Virginia." The company has not made any final decisions about "whether or where certain elements of the supply chain might be located,这位发言人本周在一封电子邮件中写道. 

西门子歌美飒(西门子盖姆)将为统治的2个项目提供涡轮机.6千兆瓦项目除试点外，本周又启动了一个新的 14兆瓦海上涡轮机模型这是世界上最大的. 

米切尔说，维吉尼亚州的生产设施正在准备就绪. The state already has a significant workforce engaged in the maritime economy in the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area, 那里有大量海军存在. 与新英格兰相比 以及北部的其他州, Virginia has lots of potential space for offshore wind factories and none of the overhead restrictions — like bridges — seen in states like 纽约.  

“弗吉尼亚一开始就占据了相当大的优势. Then we came along with what’s currently the largest offshore wind project in the U.S.米切尔说。. “我认为良好的劳动力组合, the physical attributes of the port and a large anchor project sitting there really makes [Virginia] attractive as an offshore wind hub."

海底基础, 它们可以重达数千磅, are expensive to transport over long distances and make a good candidate for local production, 米切尔说. 

A gap of several years will separate the Coastal Virginia pilot and the much larger project to come, but that doesn't translate into a lull for 统治's growing offshore wind team. 大项目的工作已经加快了一年左右, 从公开之前就开始了, 米切尔说. 自治领打算提交其建设和运营计划, 关键许可文件, 今年晚些时候. 

统治, 全国最大的公用事业集团之一, recently announced a plan to build 24 gigawatts of new renewables over the next 15 years, 包括足够的海上风能来满足弗吉尼亚州的目标. 海上风电的发电剖面, 夜间和冬季产量大, 与统治已经庞大的太阳能发电厂基地相匹配, 米切尔说.

四年的计划时间并不多, 批准并建造一个千兆瓦海上风力发电场的第一阶段, 尤其是在新兴的美国.S. 市场. “对这个商业项目来说，每一天都至关重要，”他说.