The Massachusetts governor’s administration has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with offshore wind developers for the lease of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
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Three offshore wind energy developers holding leases in federal waters off MA have agreed to use a state facility on the New Bedford waterfront as a staging area for future projects, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration said Tuesday.
“Massachusetts has achieved another major milestone in securing a clean energy future for the Commonwealth’s ratepayers”, said Governor Charlie Baker in a statement.
The renewable energy law signed by Baker in August calls for MA to launch a procurement effort created to lead to the construction of offshore wind installations capable of delivering 1,600 megawatts of power to a grid that is losing coal-fired plants and is set to see Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth cease operations on May 31, 2019 after refueling in 2017.
Deepwater Wind, OffshoreMW and Dong Energy all hope to develop wind projects in the federally-designated area about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
“This is a big step forward in establishing a supply chain that will produce quality jobs and long-term economic growth on the south coast and throughout MA”, said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. Prompting the agreement: Baker’s signing last month of a new state law that will push big electric utilities to buy as much as 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power over the course of a decade. “MassCEC is ready to welcome our first offshore wind customers as we prepare to make MA the North American hub of this emerging industry”. “Because we need infrastructure and we have here in New Bedford – the premier facility for housing this new industry”.
Three companies have agreed to use a New Bedford facility as a staging area for future offshore wind projects. The first of its kind in North America, the terminal has been engineered to sustain mobile crane and storage loads that rival the highest capacity ports in the world.
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“We already know the benefits that the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal can provide the region and the industry having used it as our mobilization base for the research vessel”, he said.
