US President Joe Biden has paid a visit to Prysmian’s planned factory for making subsea cables in Massachusetts.
Biden was joined by Ignacio Galán, Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola and Chairman of Avangrid, Iberdrola’s US subsidiary which is developing offshore wind projects.
Earlier this year Prysmian acquired Brayton Point, a former 1600MW coal plant in Massachusetts.
The $200m facility, which will manufacture subsea transmission cables, was included as part of Avangrid Renewables’ 1232MW Commonwealth Wind project.
It will also supply cables for Avangrid’s Park City Wind and Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind projects.
Other federal officials who joined Biden at the event included White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Senator Edward Markey (MA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Representative Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), and Representative Bill Keating (MA-09).
“As a company truly committed to building a cleaner, more sustainable energy future, we are proud to be leading the offshore energy market in the United States and believe we are uniquely positioned to help President Biden meet his goal of building 30GW of offshore wind by 2030, and to help the country create thousands of quality jobs, support local economies, and develop a solid supply chain to support its growing renewable energy market”, said Galán,
He added: “The investment we are making in our three advanced offshore wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts alone will exceed $10 billion.
“We support President Biden and his Administration for their leadership in fighting climate change, and we look forward to building on our collective mission to accelerate the transformation to a cleaner tomorrow.”
During the event, Biden outlined a series of actions to advance the US offshore wind industry and promote climate resilience while also creating jobs and lowering energy costs for families.
He emphasised the importance of offshore wind, including Avangrid’s joint venture Vineyard Wind 1 project, as critical to meeting the United States’ climate goals, and highlighted the role of American utility companies, like Avangrid, in advancing the innovation and grid modernization needed to support the clean energy economy of the future.