Offshore Wind Connects New Bedford and Grimsby

New Bedford, US, and Grimsby, UK, have signed a Memorandum of Agreement as the New Bedford port is looking to tap into the offshore wind opportunities same as Grimsby. 

A delegation of 24 representatives from the public and private sector has visited Grimsby with an aim to learn from the UK port town’s experience in the offshore wind sector and apply it similarly to the emerging US industry, which could set up as much as 1,600MW in Massachusetts.

“In New Bedford, we are taking the future in our own hands, just as Grimsby has done over the last couple of decades, and that’s the way the world is these days,” Grimsby Telegraph quotes Mayor of City of New Bedford, Jon F. Mitchell, as saying. “We have to think big, be pro-active and aggressive, seize good ideas and share them where opportunities present themselves. If there is a place in the UK to be partnered with it is certainly Grimsby. We are pleased to be here.”

Last year, the Baker-Polito Administration signed a comprehensive energy legislation which requires utilities to competitively solicit and contract for approximately 1,600MW of offshore wind and 1,200MW of other clean energy generation, such as hydropower. The legislation spurs the development of an emerging offshore wind industry to create jobs and represents the largest commitment by any state in the nation to offshore wind.

Furthermore, in September 2016, DONG Energy, Deepwater Wind and OffshoreMW signed a Letter of Intent with the state of Massachusetts to lease the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging and deployment location for future offshore wind projects.

In February 2017, Deepwater Wind, the developer of the first offshore wind farm in the U.S., opened its Massachusetts office at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

On 27 April, DONG Energy opened its US headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. The offshore wind giant entered the U.S. offshore wind market in early 2015, when it took over RES Americas Developments Inc.’s (RES) development project rights for a site off the coast of Massachusetts. Less than a year later, the company acquired the rights for the second U.S. lease area with from RES Americas Developments – off the coast of New Jersey.