Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind have signed the lease agreements with the Baker-Polito Administration to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging and deployment base for their projects.
Under the deal, the companies will use the facility in Massachusetts for the construction and installation of their offshore wind projects in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard.
The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal is a 29-acre heavy-lift facility which was built and operated by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC).
The facility is designed to support the construction, assembly, and deployment of offshore wind projects, handle bulk, break-bulk, container, and large specialty marine cargo.
The terminal will be utilized for offshore wind work from 2023 into 2027
The two companies were selected in May 2018 and October 2019, through competitive processes, to develop an array of projects with a combined capacity of approximately 1,600MW in Massachusetts.
The Vineyard Wind lease is an amended and revised agreement with MassCEC to house a shift in the project schedule stemming from additional review and approval from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Meanwhile, Mayflower Wind’s new lease agreement is based on an option to lease the Terminal executed in August last year.
Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen said: “Vineyard Wind is already proud to call New Bedford home, and with the signing of this lease agreement, we mark yet another step forward in bringing our first project to fruition.
“Once construction begins, the Marine Commerce Terminal will become the birthplace of an entirely new industry, with jobs and opportunities for local residents that simply don’t exist today.”
As per the terms of the lease agreements, the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal will be utilized for full-time offshore wind work from 2023 into 2027 and worth more than $32.5m.
