October 26 - Deepwater Wind plans to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal at the Port of New Bedford, USA as its base of operations for its Revolution Wind project.
According to Deepwater Wind, if its Revolution Wind project proposal is approved by Massachusetts utilities in January, it will be the first offshore wind developer to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal and commit to using the city as its base.
The project is hoped to jumpstart the offshore wind industry in Massachusetts.
"We have worked hard to position New Bedford to become the leading offshore wind port on the East Coast," said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. "Deepwater Wind's announcement today that it will use New Bedford as its base for the first major offshore wind project in New England is a major step in that direction."
During its use of port facilities in the city, the Revolution Wind project will pay USD5.5 million in annual fees to the state and USD500,000 annually to the city of New Bedford.
"These funds will make it possible for the Port of New Bedford to provide essential additional port services, invest in and plan for the future growth of the port, and help maintain our leadership role in commercial fishing by successfully integrating an emerging industry on our waterfront," said port director, Edward Anthes-Washburn.
In addition to the use of port facilities, Deepwater Wind will locate ongoing operations and maintenance for the Revolution Wind project in New Bedford. Deepwater Wind is working with the city to identify suitable sites for an operations and maintenance facility and vessel dockage.
Revolution Wind would be a 144 MW, 24 turbine wind farm - paired with a battery storage system provided by Tesla - proposed in response to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' request for proposals for new sources of clean energy.
Deepwater Wind also provided alternative bids for a larger 288 MW version of Revolution Wind and a smaller 96 MW version.
The project will use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, which is managed by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
(MassCEC), for significant construction and staging operations to complete the first 144 MW facility, which will be located 30 miles (48.2 km) from the mainland.
Utilities and state regulators are expected to make a decision in January 2018 on the Revolution Wind proposal. If approved, local construction work on the project would begin in 2022.
