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Reviewed by: Jen McCann
Last Update: July 8th, 2020
The Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) is located within the Ocean SAMP Renewable Energy Zone approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island and over 16 miles (25.7km) south of the Rhode Island mainland1.
The BIWF consists of five, 6-MW wind turbine generators located entirely within State waters, a submarine cable interconnecting the turbines, and a 34.5 kilovolt (AC) transmission cable from the northernmost turbine to an interconnection point on Block Island. The wind turbine generators are installed on jacketed structures in approximately 80 feet of water2,3.
The Block Island Transmission System is a 34.5-kV alternating current (AC) bi-directional submarine transmission cable that runs approximately 21.8 miles (35.1 km) from Block Island to the Rhode Island mainland. The mainland landing site is at Scarborough State Beach with the cable continuing along state roads to the substation located at the Dillon Rotary/Corner. The Project also includes a Block Island substation in the Town of New Shoreham on Block Island at the site of an existing power generation facility on property owned by the Block Island Power Company3,4.
More About the BIWFSources
[1] Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan Volume I
[2] Ørsted
[3] Tetra Tech Inc. (2012). Block Island Wind Farm and Block Island Transmission System Environmental Report/Construction and Operations Plan. Report by Tetra Tech Inc.. Report for Deepwater Wind. Retrieved from
https://tethys.pnnl.gov/sites/default/files/publications/BlockIsland_2012.pdf
[4] sea2shore: The Renewable Link Project Overview