As an electrician on Revolution Wind, Thomas Kilday climbed 500-foot turbine towers, worked in freezing winds and driving rain, and trained to escape a helicopter crash. But what he remembers most vividly from more than two years of working on the offshore wind farm about 15 miles off the coast are the sunsets. “One of the great beauties about being out there is you’re very far out, which is one of the downsides — you’re so far away from civilization,” said Kilday, who lives in Rhode Island. “But the nice part is the sunrises and the sunsets are gorgeous. There’s nothing out there for miles and miles.” The 704-megawatt Revolution Wind project recently began supplying electricity to homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island and is about 90% complete, with full operations expected in the second half of 2026. Developed by Ørsted, the wind farm will deliver enough electricity to the New England grid to power about 350,000 homes — or about 2.5% of the region’s electricity supply. Behind the power now flowing to the regional grid is the unheralded work of hundreds of skilled tradesmen — from millwrights and shipbuilders to carpenters, iron workers and electricians — who say they were drawn by the novelty of building one of the nation’s first large offshore wind farms and the chance to generate power for their communities. But their journey wasn’t smooth: Construction was halted twice by federal shutdown orders that cast uncertainty over the multibillion-dollar project and the workers building it. Still, many describe a deep sense of pride in playing even a small role in what they see as a historic achievement.
What it’s like to build an offshore wind farm: storms and isolation off Connecticut’s coast
