Connecticut bill will allow up to 2,000 MW of procured energy

4720

Vineyard Wind LLC, a leading offshore wind developer based in New England, recently congratulated Gov. Ned Lamont for his signing of House Bill (HB) 7156, a bill that will allow for as much as 2,000 MW of offshore wind power to be procured by the state.

“With the stroke of a pen … Governor Lamont made history,” said Erich Stephens, chief development officer for Vineyard Wind. “This legislation has the potential to make Connecticut a major player in offshore wind power, an industry that’s poised for tremendous growth in the coming years. Our plan, which will invest millions into the city of Bridgeport, would turn offshore wind into statewide industry and create good paying jobs with good benefits.”

Vineyard Wind is developing an 800-MW project in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. (Courtesy: Vineyard Wind)

Vineyard Wind is looking to work with the city of Bridgeport and an existing Connecticut business along the city’s harbor, Bridgeport Boatworks. If the company is accepted as a supplier of wind energy for the state, it will invest millions of dollars in the revitalization of Bridgeport Harbor, so that the harbor can be used as a staging area for the ongoing construction of a facility off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

Vineyard Wind is a New England-based company and the leading U.S. offshore wind developer, currently developing and financing the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm — an 800 MW project in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The project is set to begin construction later this year. Vineyard Wind is backed by two of the world’s most successful and experienced offshore wind project developers and investors — Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables. CIP manages more than $8 billion in clean-energy investments worldwide, and its partners are some of the world’s pioneers in the offshore wind industry. Avangrid Renewables is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. and one of the leading providers of wind energy in the U.S. It is part of the Iberdrola Group, one of the world’s largest wind-project developers with more than 15 GW of wind power capacity installed.

More infowww.vineyardwind.com