Ed. Note: With the project to rebury two sections of undersea cables about to get underway, The Block Island Times reached out to Block Island Wind Farm owner Ørsted, and National Grid, about the scope and complexity of the endeavor. Interview conducted by email by Lars Trodson. National Grid’s questions were answered by Ted Kresse, Director, Strategic Communications and Ørsted spokesperson Meaghan Wims.
BIT: Has a specific start date for the cable reburial been set?
NG: Teams from both National Grid and Ørsted are beginning to mobilize to the Island, with the staging of equipment and arrival of barges that will be used to replace the cables’ shore landings. The Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) and land-based conduit construction work at Town Beach is scheduled to begin in November and continue into December or January. The Ørsted HDD will occur first, followed by the National Grid HDD. This will create the new conduits (pipes) needed for the cable construction. The cable installation is scheduled to begin in late winter or early spring.
Ø: Ørsted’s scope of work will begin on October 15. All of the work will be conducted during the offseason. We are scheduled to finish the