Massachusetts Offshore Wind Ports & Infrastructure

Investments in Our Ports

On December 20, 2022 MassCEC and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs announced $180 million in funding for ports and infrastructure projects related to offshore wind in the Commonwealth.

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Awards were made as follows:

  1.  $75,000,000 to Crowley Wind Services, Inc. & the City of Salem for the conversion of a former coal-fired power plant industrial property in Salem into a world class purpose-built offshore wind marshalling port. Work also includes expanding the public-private partnership with the Commonwealth, to ensure that this facility will be available to support the state’s important offshore wind and climate goals, with MassCEC and Salem taking ownership of the site and leasing back to Crowley to operate the wind port.
  2. $25,000,000 to Prysmian Projects North America for the redevelopment of part of the Brayton Point Marine Commerce Center in Somerset to construct a manufacturing facility and terminal for marine high voltage cables.
  3. $15,000,000 to the New Bedford Port Authority for the improvement of its North Terminal 1 port facility, with bulkhead and terminal space, and the modernization of port-wide operations to efficiently manage increased vessel traffic.
  4. $15,000,000 to the New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal for the redevelopment of the former Sprague/Eversource power plant, transforming the legacy site into a modern offshore wind port supporting operations and construction activities, with new heavy-lift quayside, laydown space, and berthing for feeder barges and service operations.
  5. $4,639,200 to Shoreline Marine Terminals for the build-out of marine terminals with new bulkhead, docking space, lift piers, fueling capacity and other infrastructure which will support the day-to-day operations of offshore wind crew transfer and other vessels for vessel maintenance and repairs in the port of New Bedford.
  6. $360,800 to Gladding Hearn Shipbuilding for shipyard upgrades to enable the local facility in Somerset to fabricate and repair aluminum high-speed crew transfer vessels for Vineyard Wind, Mayflower Wind and other projects.

An additional $45,000,000 was also announced for the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, owned and operated by MassCEC, to support capital investments for facility improvements to ensure the Terminal can accommodate the current and future size of offshore projects.

These investments, stand to generate more than $444 million in leveraged new capital expenditure investments in Massachusetts port facilities. A significant portion of the money is dedicated to projects in Environmental Justice communities such as Salem, New Bedford, and Somerset. An estimated 27,138 new job years of local employment will also drive significant indirect economic input in those communities.

North Shore Infrastructure Assessments (2022)

With the formation of the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force for the Gulf of Maine and the commencement in late 2019 of planning efforts for potential offshore wind development, MassCEC initiated a project to expand the original 2017 offshore wind ports and infrastructure assessment to the North Shore region of Massachusetts (from Revere to Salisbury).

In 2022, MassCEC released the Massachusetts Offshore Wind Ports and Infrastructure Assessment 2022: North Shore which includes a summary of the workings and general requirements of operations and maintenance ports; a screening level assessment of port facilities 20 acres or greater in area that could have a potential reuse for marshalling, manufacturing or service/repair ports; and for the primary site that was identified from the screening level assessment, both an existing conditions and an engineering assessment were conducted. 

In this North Shore sites assessment, special consideration was afforded to properties with potential to service offshore wind farm developments in the Gulf of Maine (where floating foundations are anticipated), as well as to the south of Cape Cod (where fixed-bottom turbine foundations are being utilized). The following were considered in the evaluation of the North Shore sites: 

  • The need for floating foundations for wind turbine generators (WTGs) in the Gulf of Maine. 

  • The continued technological advancements in WTGs which continue to increase in capacity and size and capacity; the largest commercially available currently are in the 10-15 MW range while the current offshore wind industry outlook is for a 20 MW maximum WTG capacity. 

  • The manufacturing of Tier 1 offshore wind components such as blades, as well as other potential manufacturing activities such as secondary steel, coating applications, etc. 

Boston Area and South Coast Infrastructure Assessments (2017)

In 2017, MassCEC released its first Massachusetts Offshore Wind Ports & Infrastructure Assessment to provide the offshore wind industry, and its associated supply chain, with critical information on existing port infrastructure at 18 waterfront properties on the South Coast and Metro-Boston (Boston, Quincy, New Bedford, Fall River, and Somerset). MassCEC’s main objective for this assessment is to provide detailed property information to guide the offshore wind industry in their decision-making process when selecting sites to manufacture, stage and service offshore wind components for the offshore wind market in Massachusetts and along the East Coast.   

Volume One – Comprehensive Review of Existing Conditions at Massachusetts Waterfront Properties   

For the first phase of the assessment, detailed information concerning the existing site conditions at 18 sites was collected, including ownership, current use and historical uses, access and transportation, physical site conditions and facilities, environmental conditions, and existing plans, designs, as-built surveys.   

  • Volume One: Introduction.  This document is a short introductory report that complements the individual site Existing Conditions Assessments (links below), and details the methodology undertaken to compile the comprehensive information.   

Volume Two – Engineering Assessment of Potential Site Redevelopment and Reuse Scenarios 

Guided by offshore wind industry leaders worldwide, MassCEC established current and future trends to develop a set of offshore wind facility requirements for component manufacturing, staging, and operations and maintenance.  Completed in October 2017, this report overlays the facility requirements for each of the above-listed offshore wind activities with the existing conditions at each Massachusetts waterfront property and evaluate which locations could best support various activities.  For each property, an engineering analysis was conducted to create conceptual redevelopment designs, high-level cost estimates and permitting pathways required for the sites to be able to support offshore wind activities. 

  • Volume Two: Complete Report. This document is the comprehensive, 400+ page report detailing the methodology, all redevelopment and reuse cases for all 18 sites, and full cost estimate and permitting information.  

To see the site-specific Existing Conditions Assessments, Redevelopment and Reuse Scenarios and review the backup documentation available, click on the links below. 

Fall River/Somerset Area Sites

New Bedford Area Sites

Boston/Quincy Area Sites

As part of its Boston Area and South Coast Offshore Wind Ports & Infrastructure Assessment, MassCEC has created a gallery of web maps to display the 18 potentially available waterfront sites listed above that could be improved through private investment to become suitable facilities for offshore wind component manufacturing, staging, and long-term operations and maintenance. 

 

See Offshore Wind Ports and Infrastructure Maps