HeliService USA is taking delivery, under long-term lease, of the first dedicated offshore wind helicopters in the US courtesy of aircraft lessor LCI. The Leonardo AW169 helicopters will be operated in support of Ørsted and General Electric contracts based in Quonset, Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and will enable crew changes and wind turbine maintenance.

The AW169s, one of which will be a factory-built new machine, are valued at over $20 million and are designed to perform a wide range of mission-critical operations. They are equipped with hoisting systems to airlift technicians to and from wind turbines and can operate across a variety of sea states.

LCI CEO Jaspal Jandu says: “LCI is honoured to be enabling the USA’s first offshore wind helicopter operations, which are mission critical and socially responsible. Modern helicopters emit up to five times less CO2 per passenger compared with offshore crew transfer vessels, and they will underpin the growth of this exciting new energy future. We are delighted to be growing our partnership with HeliService USA. Its ability to leverage an unrivalled track record makes it a natural and trusted operator for the nascent offshore wind sector in the USA.”

The White House has a commitment to a new clean energy industry and aims to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, increasing to 110 GW by 2050. Meeting the 2030 target will trigger more than $12 billion per year in capital investment and create 77,000 direct and indirect jobs. It will also generate enough power to meet the demand of more than 10 million American homes for a year and avoid 78 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

HeliService MD Michael Tosi says: “Helicopters are vital to efficient offshore wind operations and we are excited to be bringing proven procedures and strong safety culture to this new clean energy industry. Working in partnership with LCI and leveraging the experience of the world’s largest offshore wind helicopter operator (HeliService in Europe), we look forward to supporting our customer’s offshore wind operations using these assets.”