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Vineyard Wind to lease New Bedford Terminal

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 23/10/2018 MassCEC
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Vineyard Wind have signed a lease agreement to utilise the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as the primary staging and deployment location for its offshore wind project.

Constructed and operated by MassCEC, the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal is a 29-acre heavy-lift facility designed to support the construction, assembly, and deployment of offshore wind projects, as well as handle bulk, break-bulk, container, and large specialty marine cargo.  The first port in North America specifically built to support the staging and deployment of offshore wind components.

The lease agreement between MassCEC and Vineyard Wind represents a commitment to an 18-month lease at $6 million annually to use the terminal as the primary staging and deployment location for its offshore wind project.

“The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal provides Massachusetts with an important piece of infrastructure that will be critical in helping the offshore wind industry to establish operations in this new American marketplace,”
said MassCEC CEO Stephen Pike.


The final acceptance of the Vineyard Wind contract is conditional upon and the regulatory approval at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU), which is anticipated to be completed in early 2019.  The project also requires permitting approval from state and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Thaaning Pedersen, commented:"Vineyard Wind has made the Port of New Bedford and the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal a centerpiece of our proposal to build and operate an 800-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts because we truly understand the importance of the excellent port infrastructure and an existing supply chain that’s available right here, ready to help make offshore wind a lasting success.”  

Pedersen added: "Vineyard Wind’s initial investment and the Commonwealth’s commitment to clean energy will pay enormous dividends, in particular creation of a robust, sustainable supply chain that will stimulate new jobs and economic activity here on the South Coast."


Vineyard Wind LLC is a 50-50 joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables. The offshore wind development company is based in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The company's
proposed project is contained within a 160,000 acre (647km2) lease area 14 miles (24km) off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The developer is currently looking to construct the project with a capacity of up to 800MW, however it claims the site could host an array up to 1.6GW. Vineyard Wind stated the project remains on schedule to begin construction in 2019 and become operational by 2021.

For more information on offshore wind developments in the U.S.A,
click here. To view 4C Offshore's interactive map click here.

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