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The Gulf Effect: How Legacy Shipbuilder Edison Chouest Made U.S. Offshore Wind History

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Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) is playing the long game. In May, the Louisiana shipbuilder christened the first American-made service operations vessel (SOV) for the U.S. offshore wind industry –– the result of ECO’s decades of honed naval expertise and the cultivation of a relationship with clean energy developer Ørsted, among others.

ECO Edison, which was commissioned by Ørsted to support its Northeast projects, helps fill a gap in the growing clean energy industry that demands a fleet of dozens of specialized vessels, many of which must also be Jones Act-compliant. The project also allowed Edison Chouest (ECO) to continue supporting its existing employees, and create new roles that increased its labor pool, ECO’s Vice President of Renewables Michael Braid said.

“We have also opened offices in New York and Rhode Island and will continue to expand our resources in each,” Braid said. “We never underestimate the value and opportunity to keep creating new projects for our team and future hires.”

The May 2024 christening of ECO Edison, the first new-build SOV in the U.S., constructed at the Edison Chouest shipyard in Louisiana. (Courtesy: Edison Chouest)

ECO has been a lynchpin for the industry’s vessel needs, and has supported phases of engineering, construction, permitting, and operations and maintenance (O&M) at South Fork, Vineyard Wind, and Revolution Wind utilizing existing, modified, or new build vessels and services. Combined, their work has resulted in 16 charters totaling about 67 vessel years.

On the horizon, the company will deliver a second new build SOV for the Empire Wind project next summer, and in 2026 will complete two, new build articulated tug and barge feedering vessels in support of Maersk’s new wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV). ECO was also recently listed as Avangrid’s preferred supplier of a new build SOV to support the developer’s New England projects.

Oceantic Network spoke with Braid about ECO’s journey in offshore wind. From their initial engagement with Ørsted to the delivery of ECO Edison, the interview offers a look at the factors that drew the company into the industry, what’s keeping them there, and what the future might hold for the legacy Gulf shipbuilder. Let’s dive in.

Oceantic: When did you identify offshore wind’s potential for new business growth?

Braid: We have been monitoring the sector’s rapid growth in Europe through our joint venture partner Island Offshore for the last 12-15 years. We were always confident that at some stage the U.S. sector would flourish, so we positioned ourselves early to move with the tier-1 contractors so that we earned experience through the first wave of projects. We have been very fortunate to work with established contractors on wind farm engineering, procurement, and construction services in the U.S. such as Boskalis, Jan De Nul, DEME Group, and Nexans. They have been excellent partners to work with; their depth of knowledge and experience in the sector is unparalleled, which allows us first-hand experience to learn from the best in this new and burgeoning sector.

Our first engagement was with Ørsted for their long-term SOV at South Fork, Revolution, and Sunrise offshore wind farms back in 2018-2019. We ended up executing a contract with them in 2020 and have since worked very closely with their teams and expanded our services to them across multiple verticals. The first project we undertook was with DEME using the Laney Chouest to plough at South Fork ahead of their vessel laying export and array cables last year.

Oceantic: What factors did you consider when you decided to take on the ECO Edison project?

Braid: When we look at new build projects, we first look at the intricacy to measure competitiveness, and then it’s really down to who the client is. We model ourselves on long-term relationships, therefore this project being a “first of its kind” in the U.S. with a leading player such as Ørsted, was very attractive.

Oceantic: Why was Edison Chouest well-suited to take on this project?

Braid: This project was a perfect example of how a vertically integrated organization can add more value and de-risk very sensitive projects. We held all the critical components for this in-house and leveraged our capabilities, so the client and project realized this was the only viable solution.

  • We design our vessels in-house with our team of naval architects and engineers and have been doing so for decades.
  • We have our own dedicated U.S. shipyard group covering four yards across three states that build exclusively for ECO.
  • We have our own marine procurement affiliate that supports our nearly 300 strong fleet, which delivers purchase power and efficiencies.
  • We own our own component suppliers such as Marine Technologies, which provides dynamic positioning and control systems for the bridge, communications systems, and the control systems for the integrated gangway system.
  • We employ our mariners directly and train them in our facility in Louisiana, providing them with free access to continue their career trajectory and performance growth.

This is not exhaustive, but showcases what separates us from any other offshore ship owner in the world.

Oceantic: How does ECO Edison compare to other vessels ECO has built in the past?

Braid: We covet complex projects because we can utilize our full breadth of capabilities, and ECO Edison certainly delivered that! It isn’t the largest project we have taken on, but Ørsted was clear in their targets for how the SOV would operate so we knew it was going to be a very close collaboration to achieve those efficiencies. We have built a cruise ship and delivered many yachts from within our wider group, so we knew we had the experience and capabilities in-house to deliver the high-quality accommodations and amenities the client required.

Oceantic: What new elements did the project present?

Braid: Designing, then building, a vessel with an integrated motion-compensated gangway was new for us, but the team at Ulmatec worked closely with us so we could undertake as much as possible from the U.S., such as building the tower ourselves and delivering our own control package. We also built the aluminum workboat, which is a 12-meter Chartwell design –– another first for us. We select our partners closely, so we had comfort in the end product meeting the quality we and Ørsted require.

Liz Burdock, President and CEO of Oceantic Network, tours the ECO Edison vessel.

Oceantic: How do you envision your role in offshore wind going forward?

Braid: We have a target of providing integrated marine-based services through a single contracted American solution covering subsea, marine logistics and topside integrity management. ECO will be looking to offer full O&M-based services in the future, so watch this space.

Bonus Question: Have you given a name to Eco Edison’s new mini-CTV?

Braid: TEE ED, which means little Ed, referencing big Ed being the ECO Edison.

The U.S. offshore wind vessel fleet is quickly expanding with four new crew transfer vessels (CTVs) launched in the first quarter of 2024, and construction of the first U.S.-based wind turbine installation vessel nearing completion. Read the latest updates on the industry’s steel and shipbuilding supply chain in Oceantic Network’s Quarterly Market Report.

In mid-May, Network staff had the opportunity to visit the first completed offshore wind project in the United States, South Fork Wind, which announced the completion of construction on March 15, 2024. South Fork Wind is only the beginning of a 115,000 MW at-scale clean energy transition that is beneficial to both to the environment, and the American industrial economy that builds it. The 12-turbine project generates 132 MW of clean electricity and delivers it to the Long Island grid, enough to power over 70,000 homes and jumpstart New York State’s march to its 9,000 MW offshore wind goal.

The project is also a test case for the potential offshore wind has to be America’s next great industry. Building the modestly-sized project required a supply chain that stretched across at least 19 states sparked nearly $1 billion in new investments from upstate New York and Connecticut to the Gulf Coast supporting it and other near-term projects. The Network has identified 173 supply chain contracts associated with the South Fork Wind project, ranging from engineering and survey work to vessel construction and operation. From those investments and contracts, the Network can track at least 2,000 Americans who worked in manufacturing and construction jobs alone that supported the project – a total that does not include the long-term operations and maintenance jobs created to support the project’s two-decade lifespan, or the hundreds of planning, development, or lower tier supply chain jobs. American unions are serving as the backbone of these projects and filling many of the jobs with locals who supply labor for port redevelopment, component manufacturing, turbine installation, and maintenance work.

As was the case with America’s first test project, Block Island Wind Farm, the Gulf of Mexico played an outsized role, leveraging its offshore construction expertise to give new opportunities to legacy oil and gas suppliers.

On May 10, industry leaders and government dignitaries, like U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02), came together in New Orleans for the launching of the first new-build SOV in the U.S., the ECO Edison. The $100 million vessel put 600 individuals to work at the Edison Chouest shipyard in Southern Louisiana and yielded a supply chain reaching 34 states. While constructed in the Gulf, the Edison will operate more than 1,500 miles away, safely housing and transporting workers during weeks-long deployments for Ørsted’s Northeastern projects, such as South Fork Wind and its under-construction big brother, the 704 MW Revolution Wind.

The May 2024 christening of ECO Edison, the first new-build SOV in the U.S., constructed at the Edison Chouest shipyard in Louisiana. (Courtesy: Edison Chouest)

Further west, Texas’ Gulf Copper retrofitted an existing barge that operator Crowley used to transport the turbine blades — as long as a football field — and massive nacelles from port to the South Fork installation site. In Corpus Christi, Texas, Kiewit Offshore Services manufactured the first American-made offshore wind substation with the help of 350 workers in the Gulf and in Kansas. Gulf operators like Otto Candies and Guice Offshore also brought vessels out of the Gulf to support installation activities. In the case of Otto Candies, their vessels were even retrofitted in the Gulf to better serve the offshore wind industry.

South Fork Wind also featured the first American-manufactured offshore wind components. Export cables, which carry power from the American-made offshore substation to shore, were manufactured near Charleston, South Carolina in Nexans’ new $200 million facility that employs 200 locally (and exports globally). Long Island’s Haugland Group put 100 to work building the onshore transmission system that linked the export cables from the shore to the grid, and Roman Stone provided the concrete mattresses that protect the cables. In western New York, Ljungström invested $10.7 million to revive an ailing steel mill and hired 200 more people to meet the demand from offshore wind. The facility provided the steel for Riggs Distler’s $40 million plant in the Port of Providence (ProvPort) where more than 100 trades workers manufactured huge internal steel cages and external platforms that allow workers to access the foundation and tower base.

Offshore wind’s need for port space and access is immense, and the development of South Fork Wind helped inject hundreds of millions in new investments into northeastern ports, such as Port Jefferson in New York where the Eco Edison will be stationed. To support installation activities, $310 million went into redeveloping the New London State Pier in Connecticut, which yielded an estimated 400 jobs and a world-class offshore wind marshalling port where towers, blades, and nacelles are housed as they await transit to the wind project. Now complete, the pier will support at least two more wind farm installations –– Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind. In Rhode Island, ProvPort has been transformed into a vital hub for the industry by providing manufacturing, storage, and general operations services for the industry as it supports installation activities off New England. On the day the Network visited, the Cade Candies — a vessel out of Louisiana and retrofitted to work on offshore wind — was docked. This is a common occurrence at ProvPort where dozens of Gulf assets have already called.

Above: The substation at South Fork Wind, the first of its kind manufactured in the U.S. It was built in Corpus Christi, Texas by Kiewit Offshore Services.

Further down the bay, the Port of Davisville is undergoing its own $200 million redevelopment in part to support its role as an operations and maintenance hub for South Fork Wind and other projects. At the neighboring airport, HeliService USA has transported up to 180 workers per day by helicopter to perform installation and maintenance activities at northeast projects. By water, WindServe Marine and American Offshore Services are operating five Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) for project developer Ørsted’s northeastern projects, all manufactured at nearby Rhode Island shipyards Senesco Marine and Blount Boats; Senesco has on hundreds of workers to support manufacturing of these and other offshore wind vessels. Each of these companies are employing scores of workers who will be transporting turbine technicians and operators out to project sites for decades to come.

South Fork Wind provides a window into the economic opportunity offshore wind presents the nation. Just readying the U.S. to build this 12-turbine project sparked hundreds of millions in new investments and put at least 2,000 people to work in manufacturing and construction jobs. Harder to quantify are the hundreds that supported the project by performing engineering and survey work — such as Haley & Aldrich, Inspire Environmental, Keystone Engineering, or Woods Hole Group — or local supply businesses like Red Ironworks and Miller Marine, who provided critical construction support.

The U.S. market is now accelerating deployment with three projects, all multitudes larger than South Fork Wind –– the 704 MW Revolution Wind project that will heavily rely on the supply chain developed by South Fork Wind, the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1, which is primarily based out of Massachusetts, and the 2,587 MW Coastal Virginia project. Many more projects are in the development pipeline as U.S. states have already collectively set goals for more than 115,000 MW of offshore wind.

Oceantic Network’s new report, Suppliers’ Guide to Success: Smart Scaling for the U.S. West Coast Floating Wind Market, analyzes the requirements for a full buildout of floating offshore wind on the West Coast and proposes solutions to industry and government that will allow the sector to flourish.

The paper covers several key actions West Coast policymakers can take to ensure the region can become a global leader in floating offshore wind:

  • Prioritize investments in port and transmission infrastructure.
  • Structure offtake awards in a way that emphasizes project deliverability.
  • Establish a firm, steady, and long-term procurement schedule for offshore wind power.

The paper condenses lessons learned from offshore wind policy regimes on the East Coast and around the world with the goal of avoiding unnecessary pitfalls for West Coast offshore wind deployment. It also details the current market landscape that underpins the region’s opportunity and the work already done to get the industry where it is. Findings were produced with the help of the Network’s West Coast Supplier Council, a group of companies focused on the unique needs and development of the region’s offshore wind sector and its supply chain. 

Members of the West Coast Supplier Council include: 

  • Aker Solutions AS 
  • Burns & McDonnell 
  • Crowley Wind Services 
  • EEW AOS 
  • Foss Offshore Wind 
  • Hellenic Cables
  • Hitachi Energy 
  • Manson Construction 
  • Nexans 
  • Principle Power, Inc.
  • Vestas American Wind Technology 

For weekly U.S. offshore wind updates, subscribe to the Offshore Wind Insider newsletter.

Oceantic Network releases its U.S. Offshore Wind Quarterly Market Report in April, July, and October. Each report builds off our U.S. Offshore Wind Annual Market Report and provides key analysis of both federal and state government activities impacting the U.S. offshore wind industry. The quarterly reports ensure companies are informed on offshore wind industry developments affecting their business.

Notable milestones for the first three months of 2024 include Ørsted and Eversource’s completion of South Fork Wind project in March. Next up is Vineyard Wind, to be completed later this year, which also began delivering power to the grid. Meanwhile, two new projects, which are collectively triple the size of South Fork and Vineyard, were announced to begin installation this summer.

The report details important developments that affected the U.S. offshore wind industry in the first quarter of 2024, including: 

  • BOEM increased the total capacity approved for construction by over 30% as the U.S. more than quintupled its installed offshore wind capacity – from 42 MW to 242 MW. 
  • U.S. Forged Rings announced a new $700 million tower and forge facility to be located on the East Coast, an investment made purely based on the strength of the U.S. market. 
  • Another 4,000 MW of projects are expected to begin installation activities this summer. 
  • New IRS tax guidance will drive down costs for a range of offshore wind activities across the East Coast. 
  • Four new crew transfer vessels, the workhorse of the offshore wind industry, have launched in just the past three months.  
  • New offtake awards contain provisions supporting supply chain investments throughout the East Coast. 

For weekly U.S. offshore wind updates, subscribe to the Offshore Wind Insider newsletter.   

Guest article written by Marcus Lehmann, Co-Founder & CEO of CalWave

The U.S. offshore wind industry is installing steel in the water for the first time at a commercial scale. The first utility-scale U.S. offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind, is now fully commissioned and operational. Meanwhile, 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind has started delivering power to the grid. The first Jones Act Service and Operations Vessel (SOV), the ECO Edison, is fast approaching its first voyage. The first floating offshore wind leases have been awarded off the California coast and BOEM’s Gulf of Mexico region is preparing its second auction for offshore wind lease areas. These major developments paired with new tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act are coming together to create a sea change across America.

While much attention has been paid to the growth of offshore wind, wave resources are showing a positive potential impact to the energy grid. Recent studies and reports from Stanford University (1), U.S. National Labs (2), Wave Energy Scotland (3), and EU Scores (4) are highlighting the technology, and economic and system-level benefits of combining floating offshore wind and wave systems.

Generating more renewable energy from our oceans holds incredible promise. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), marine renewable energy has the potential to power 57% of U.S. electrical needs (5). That’s a lot more than the 12% of total energy demand produced by wind and solar in 2020.

A coordinated effort combining these resources off the U.S. coastline can lead to:

  • Complementary Power Resources: By sharing balance-of-system infrastructure with offshore wind, wave energy converters (WECs) can boost the capacity factors of offshore projects without significantly increasing costs. This optimum usage of the seabed will enable a higher production of energy per square mile. Ocean swells form from the wind blowing across the ocean’s surface. This form of energy can carry hundreds or even thousands of miles across the open ocean. By the time those swells approach land, their strength is no longer impacted by wind speed. If an offshore wind farm is not producing at capacity, wave energy can fill the gap using the same infrastructure.
  • New Laws Opening Doors: Marine energy technologies may be permitted through the same leasing mechanisms as offshore wind. There is not yet a clear path for permitting marine energy projects, but new state laws in both California and New Jersey may help pave the way not only for state regulatory agencies, but also for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
  • Cost Savings: Marine renewables that are co-located with offshore wind will do more than just support America’s net-zero targets. They may also lead to significant cost savings for storage and transmission onshore. According to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the complementary generation profile of marine renewable energy creates an opportunity to reduce the need for energy storage technologies, thus reducing overall system costs.
  • Economic Benefits for a Competitive Edge: Wind and wave energy farms have the potential to create local jobs, enhance local economic development, and increase supply chain demand. Fixed offshore wind (industrialized) and floating offshore wind (industrializing) may also pave the way for quicker learnings as wave energy technologies scale up. By implementing lessons learned from offshore wind and floating platforms, companies can gain an edge in the industrialization of wave energy technologies.
  • A Versatile Option: Wave energy technologies are more versatile than offshore wind turbines and can often go where offshore wind cannot. For example, technology from California-based company CalWave Inc. operates submerged and does not require specialized vessels. This benefit gives developers the flexibility to deploy systems closer to shore than would be possible for offshore wind turbines, reducing installation costs.

To meet energy demands, the U.S. and other countries will rely on a portfolio of energy options, including a combined effort of wind and wave energy. The offshore wind industry can absorb the benefits of this deployment and the commercialization of the wave energy industry.

In the U.S. today, Oregon State University-based PacWave is preparing to deploy the first grid-connected wave energy generation system in US history. The nonprofit organization is a newly Department of Energy (DOE)-funded, pre-permitted, grid-connected wave energy test site seven miles off the central Oregon coast.

Diverse energy sources are needed to address power issues across the world. Wave energy is one part of the solution bringing a new source of offshore renewable energy. Utility-scale wave energy deployments are on the horizon, and the offshore wind industry can build a case to partner with wave energy businesses to extend power resources, manage risk during low wind periods and build economies of scale for installation, operations and transmission

New at IPF this year, Oceantic Network is excited to launch a new Ocean Renewables track to further discussion about other forms of ocean renewable energy. View the complete agenda here.

About the Author:

Marcus Lehmann founded CalWave in 2014 and serves as the CEO. Marcus was accepted into the first cohort of Cyclotron Road, a 2-year fellowship and incubator for entrepreneurial scientists working in clean energy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) that allowed the formation of the founding team. Marcus is a co-inventor of several key US and international patents and has managed CalWave’s industry collaborations and relationships. In 2016, he was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Energy. Marcus has previous industry experience with the major European utility E.ON and has worked for Siemens and BMW in the past. Marcus holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University Munich, an honors degree in Technology Management, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Technical University Hamburg-Harburg.

Sources:

1.“Combining Offshore Wind and Wave Energy farms to facilitate Grid Integration of Variable Resources,” Eric Stoutenburg, University of Stanford, April 23, 2012

2.“Understanding the Grid Value Proposition of Marine Renewable Energy,” PNNL, 2024

3.“Shared Floating Wind and Wave Projects offer 12% Combined LCOE Reduction to UK,” Wave Energy Scotland, May 11, 2023

4.“Co-location of Offshore Wind, Wave, and Floating Solar Could Lead to Unprecedented LCOE Reduction, Report Finds.” Amir Garanovic, May 11, 2022

5.“Marine Energy in the United States: An Overview of Opportunities,” Levi Kilcher, Michelle Fogarty, and Michael Lawson, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, February 2021

Oceantic Network’s annual Leadership 100 Summit  gathers U.S. offshore wind leaders for an intimate working meeting to identify the industry’s pressing, shared challenges and develop action plans to continue growing a robust U.S. offshore wind industry and supply chain.

In April, the Network released an executive summary and meeting notes from the Leadership 100 Summit in November 2023, sharing much of the valuable insight gained by attendees with the broader offshore wind industry. Download the report below!

Key findings include:

  • The potential to foster greater supply chain investments and advancement by encouraging greater project viability in the procurement structure and by decoupling projects from port and transmission infrastructure development, activities which developers may be ill-suited to execute
  • The need to build a greater understanding of the downstream supply chain costs and increased market risk that comes from continually increasing turbine sizes and lead to less efficient development
  • The need for a greater industry-wide collaborative communications strategy to combat misinformation and increase public support for offshore wind
  • Data’s ability to strengthen the industry through building public support, reducing pre-development costs, or helping make more environmentally sound regulatory decisions

Sign up for updates

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