Three US Ports Secure Federal Financing for Offshore Wind Projects

Three US ports have secured around USD 93.2 million through the Port Infrastructure Development Grants for projects aiming to serve the offshore wind industry.

The Arthur Kill Offshore Wind Terminal Project on Staten Island, New York, has secured a little over USD 48 million to fund the dredging of approximately 740,000 cubic yards to create a thirty-five-foot-deep ship basin to support further development of the adjacent 32-acre site as a purpose-built offshore wind (OSW) staging and assembly facility.

The offshore wind staging and assembly facility will contain 32 acres of upland area, a 1365-foot-long wharf with an adjacent laydown area that has enhanced load-bearing capacity, and two program areas.

The Arthur Kill Offshore Wind Terminal Project is being developed by a partnership between Empire State Development (ESD) and Arthur Kill Terminal, LLC.

ESD is the umbrella organization for New York’s two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation and the New York Job Development Authority.

New York State submitted an application to MARAD to secure funding to support the construction of the undeveloped 32-acre site into a purpose-built offshore wind port. Arthur Kill Terminal would allow for the in-port assembly of complete wind turbine towers, other tall offshore wind structures, and the use of the full array of offshore wind transport and installation vessels and methods, including Jones Act-compliant jack-up wind turbine installation vessels and floating offshore wind turbines and foundations.

Construction is expected to begin in late Fall 2023, and the terminal is anticipated to begin operating in late 2025.

”Arthur Kill Terminal will help harness the potential of offshore wind to fuel our economy forward and meet Governor Hochul’s ambitious climate goals. New York will continue to strengthen our clean energy infrastructure, create green jobs for New Yorkers, and prepare the region for the economy of tomorrow,” Hope Knight, ESD President, CEO, and Commissioner said.

The second offshore wind-related project to secure federal funding through the Port Infrastructure Development Grants is the Salem Wind Port Project in Salem, Massachusetts.

The project has secured nearly USD 34 million in funding to redevelop a vacant industrial facility into a marshalling area for offshore wind projects.

It includes the construction of a 700-foot-long wharf and bulkhead that will be able to handle oversized and heavy cargoes and will be able to serve as a loadout and assembly location. The project also includes improvements to approximately 23 acres of adjacent uplands to create a laydown area adjacent to the loadout and assembly space.

The Salem Harbor Wind Terminal is a public-private partnership signed between Crowley and the city of Salem, with AVANGRID serving as the port’s anchor tenant through its Commonwealth Wind and Park City Wind projects.

The terminal will be a logistics and operations center for turbine pre-assembly, transportation, staging activities, and storage of assembly components.

Earlier this month, Crowley completed the purchase of 42 acres in Salem needed for the development of the project.

The third project targeting offshore wind and selected in this year’s round of the Port Infrastructure Development Grants is the Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The project has secured a USD 10.53 million grant to design and construct an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Wind Port.

Project elements include the installation of approximately 1,300 linear feet of anchored bulkheads, dredging of approximately 30,000 cubic yards of material to deepen the harbor for larger support vessels, a floating service dock to assist offshore wind support vessels, and the installation of two reinforced 20’ x 100’ crane pads that will also serve as relieving platforms for the new bulkheads.

Follow offshoreWIND.biz on: