Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind to use New Bedford Marine Terminal

The projects are located in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and the agreements commit the facility to full-time offshore wind work from 2023 into 2027. The deals are worth more than US$32.5M.

Governor Charlie Baker said “These lease agreements are another major milestone for offshore wind in Massachusetts.

“The Commonwealth continues its national leadership on clean energy and ensures Massachusetts workers will benefit from the jobs and economic opportunities provided by this new industry.”

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito said, “We are pleased the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal will support the completion of these important projects, that will provide clean, affordable energy to Commonwealth ratepayers.

“With commitments for use of the terminal into 2027, New Bedford, the greater South Coast region, and the Commonwealth will see new local jobs and economic growth from this growing clean energy industry.”

Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind were selected in May 2018 and October 2019, respectively, to provide a total of 1.6 GW of offshore wind power to Massachusetts. Together the two projects represent major steps in meeting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction mandates and growing the Commonwealth’s clean energy economy.

Constructed and operated by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (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 specialised cargoes.

The first port in North America purpose-built to support the staging and installation of offshore wind components, the terminal has been engineered to sustain mobile crane and storage loads that rival the highest capacity ports in the world.

The Vineyard Wind lease with MassCEC is an amended and revised agreement to accommodate a shift in the project schedule stemming from additional review and permitting required by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The new lease agreement between Mayflower Wind and MassCEC is based on an option to lease the Terminal executed in August 2019. Both leases contain limited provisions for shared use during limited time periods at the beginning and end of the lease period to provide flexibility in project schedules.