U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm Visits Ørsted and Eversource’s New Offshore Wind Fabrication Hub

U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm Visits Ørsted and Eversource’s New Offshore Wind Fabrication Hub

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm joined Governor Dan McKee on Thursday to tour Ørsted and Eversource’s new offshore wind fabrication hub, now under construction at ProvPort.

In April, GoLocal reported Rhode Island’s leadership in the offshore wind industry took another major step forward as joint-venture partners Ørsted and Eversource announced they are taking the first steps toward transforming ProvPort into a regional offshore wind hub.

The two companies announced that they will be developing a new advanced foundation component facility to support the assembly of the developers’ portfolio of Northeast offshore wind farms.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The new 228-foot long facility will be used for advanced fabrication and assembly of foundation platforms for Ørsted and Eversource’s offshore wind projects serving Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. This facility will further develop Rhode Island’s offshore wind industry and contribute to the state’s growing blue economy.

 

South Fork Approval

The Providence-based facility will support the recently approved South Fork project.

Last week, as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030, the Department of the Interior announced it has approved the construction and operations of the South Fork Wind project situated close to Rhode Island. This announcement was the Department’s second approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. Last week, Secretary Haaland celebrated the groundbreaking of the first commercial-scale offshore wind project, located off the coast of Massachusetts.

“We have no time to waste in cultivating and investing in a clean energy economy that can sustain us for generations,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “Just one year ago, there were no large-scale offshore wind projects approved in the federal waters of the United States. Today there are two, with several more on the horizon. This is one of many actions we are taking in pursuit of the President’s goal to open the doors of economic opportunity to more Americans.”

The approximately 130-megawatt South Fork Wind project will be located approximately 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island, and 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York. It will create about 340 jobs and provide enough power for about 70,000 homes.

“Achieving the 30 GW goal can result in the creation of tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs across the country, as America moves to ramp up domestic supply chains for all aspects of offshore renewable energy development,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Mineral Management Laura Daniel-Davis.