Offshore giants commit to US base

Massachusetts has signed a letter of intent with Dong, Deepwater Wind and OffshoreMW to lease a marine terminal as a base for offshore projects.

The developers will lease the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging and deployment location for future wind projects.

They will pay $5.7 million annually to use the terminal under a two-year commitment, the US state government said.

The companies own leases to develop wind farms in an area located about 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

Dong aims to develop a 1GW offshore wind farm there, its first in North America.

Massachusetts last month adopted an energy bill that requires utilities to contract 1.6GW of offshore wind power by July 2027 – the first of its kind in the US.

“The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal will play a critical role in supporting an offshore wind industry here and we are pleased to sign the LOI,” Dong Wind general manager for North America Thomas Brostrøm said.

“We already know the benefits that the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal can provide the region and the industry having used it as our mobilization base for the research vessel,” he said. “The RV Ocean Researcher that sailed from the terminal earlier this month to conduct a geophysical survey in our lease area south of Martha’s Vineyard.”

Image: Dong