US company Mayflower Wind has signed a memorandum of understanding with two trade unions regarding the onshore and offshore construction work for its 1200MW SouthCoast Project.
The company, which is developing an offshore wind energy lease area located off the coast of Massachusetts, struck the deal with North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.
The MoU includes commitments to create jobs for local and diverse workers and to comply with the labour requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act, including paying prevailing wages and utilising apprentices.
Mayflower Wind’s full offshore wind lease area has a capacity of 2400MW. The company expects to deliver the first 1200MW of power by the end of this decade and have committed that power to several of Massachusetts’ largest public utilities.
That project, known as the SouthCoast project, will connect to the electric grid at Brayton Point in Somerset, MA, the once-home of the region’s largest coal plant.
“A talented, well-trained and unionised workforce will be instrumental in helping to safely build our SouthCoast Project,” said Mayflower Wind CEO Michael Brown. “We look forward to working with the Building Trades to create clean energy jobs for workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.”
NABTU president of NABTU Sean McGarvey added: “The benefits created for working people when industry and labour work collaboratively are enormous. We look forward to becoming an important partner on the Mayflower Wind SouthCoast Project to help build a vibrant and sustainable offshore wind industry.
“Our partnership will grow the economy in New England and create thousands of clean energy focused middle-class jobs with high-skilled training pathway programs for workers from all backgrounds.”