Vineyard Wind is revealing new details of its bid to develop an offshore
In a statement released last week company officials said they plan to transform an underused, 18.3-acre plot of waterfront property in the state's largest city into a staging area where hundreds of local workers will fabricate steel components for the proposed power plant, dubbed Park City Wind.
The base would serve as Vineyard Wind's on-shore anchor during construction of the turbine farm and remain in place as a launch point for maintenance and repair operations for the life of the project, which is expected to last for over 25 years.
The firm intends to partner with McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., which operates the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry, and other area companies to facilitate travel to and from Bridgeport to Vineyard Wind's leased construction site, which is about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
"Park City Wind is a tremendous opportunity to revitalize Bridgeport by creating thousands of good paying jobs with good benefits in both the wind industry and throughout the local supply chain," said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Thaaning Pedersen. "We see a future with thriving ports in both New London and Bridgeport and manufacturers in every corner of the state working to literally lift this industry off the ground in the U.S."
Vineyard Wind, a New Bedford, Massachusetts-based venture backed by Avangrid Inc. of Orange and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, submitted its proposal for Park City Wind last month in response to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's August solicitation for offshore wind projects.
The bid includes options for installed capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts, enough electricity to power 600,000 Connecticut homes. A clean energy source of that magnitude would reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions by over 1.6 million tons annually, including about 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 70 tons of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide.
Vineyard Wind principals claim the turbine farm could produce up to $1.6 billion in direct economic benefits and create as many as 12,000 direct and indirect full-time-equivalent jobs across the state while saving ratepayers approximately $1.1 billion in energy costs.
The company has also pledged to spread those benefits among a network of area partners, and last week announced plans to spend up to $26.5 million on workforce development initiatives, pilot programs, and research opportunities for educational institutions.
Likely collaborators include Building Pathways CT, Career Resources Inc., and Survival Systems USA, which will play a role in training workers; the East Hartford-based Center for Advanced Technology, which will help integrate local businesses into the project and build a supply chain database; and the University of Connecticut's marine sciences department, which will study the environmental impact of offshore turbines.
Vineyard Wind has also signed a letter of intent to negotiate a project labor agreement with the Connecticut Building Trades Council, a federation that supports the training and hiring of unionized laborers.
Park City Wind is competing against two other high-profile offerings for a contract with the state.
Eversource and Danish power giant Orsted A/S have submitted a proposal for a 200 MW plant known as Constitution Wind in Long Island Sound, while Shell and Spanish conglomerate EDPR are promoting the 800 MW Mayflower Wind, which would be built in the waters south of the Nantucket Shoals.
Vineyard Wind is also lobbying to build two offshore wind power stations for Massachusetts and a 1,200 MW plant that would serve customers in southern New York.
