Massachusetts has committed $180 million to support the wind power industry it hopes will grow off its coast and become a key part of its clean-energy future.
The grants announced Dec. 20 in the competitive Offshore Wind Ports Infrastructure Investment Challenge, showed Massachusetts remains committed to the young industry despite developers’ concerns over rising costs.
Most of the grants went to projects in New Bedford ($79.6 million) and Salem ($75 million), with $25.4 million to Somerset:
- $75 million to Crowley Wind Services and the city of Salem to convert a former coal-fired power plant to an OSW marshaling port.
- $45 million to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to improve its New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
- $15 million to the New Bedford Port Authority to improve its North Terminal 1 for increased vessel traffic.
- $15 million to the New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal to redevelop the former Sprague/Eversource power plant into a port supporting construction and operation of OSW facilities.
- $4.63 million to Shoreline Marine Terminals to build out terminals in New Bedford to support daily operations of vessels carrying OSW crews and maintaining those and other vessels.
- $25 million to Prysmian Projects North America to redevelop part of the Brayton Point Marine Commerce Center in Somerset into a manufacturing facility and terminal for marine high-voltage cables.
- $360,800 to Gladding Hearn Shipbuilding to upgrade its Somerset facility to build and repair high-speed crew transfer vessels for OSW projects.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said the funding announcements will help capture high-value supply-chain and workforce opportunities. “This $180 million investment will not only provide clean, affordable energy, but will also help revitalize gateway communities by delivering valuable jobs for our residents,” she said in a statement.
The state in August codified 5.7 GW of OSW capacity as a mid-2027 goal, but clouds arose soon afterward.
The developer of the 1.2-GW Commonwealth Wind project moved to delay and then cancel the contracts it had committed to, saying inflation and interest rate hikes had made the terms untenable. The developer of Mayflower Wind said it had similar problems with its commitments for 400 MW, though it did not move to cancel its power purchase agreements. (See Avangrid Seeks to Terminate Commonwealth Wind PPAs.)
The only other OSW project in the pipeline in Massachusetts is the 800-MW Vineyard Wind, which is under construction and targeted to go online in 2023.
