Vineyard Offshore’s proposed project will create nearly 400 Connecticut jobs as part of its offshore wind transmission investment and aid local companies ThayerMahan and Survival Systems in expanding their leadership roles in the offshore wind industry.
(BOSTON) – Vineyard Offshore, America’s leading offshore wind development company, today highlighted the benefits of its proposed Vineyard Wind 2 project for workers, businesses, and communities in Connecticut. Development of Vineyard Wind 2 will generate $682 million in direct economic benefits for Connecticut and nearly 400 job-years of employment, the bulk of them associated with construction of onshore cable and transmission equipment to interconnect with the New England power grid. The proposed project will also deliver many benefits to the environment and marine ecosystem, with Vineyard Offshore providing over $20 million in directly funded initiatives to support wildlife, fisheries, and ecological resources, as well as the commercial fishing industry.
“This will be the first offshore wind project to bring clean, reliable power to land on Connecticut soil, with the jobs that come with it,” said Alicia Barton, CEO of Vineyard Offshore. “People think of offshore wind jobs in terms of activity in ports and on the water, but onshore transmission work is one of the most labor-intensive aspects of offshore wind development. With our commitment to organized labor, that means a lot of jobs for union members in Connecticut.”
Vineyard Wind 1 was the first offshore wind development to sign a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the building trades in Massachusetts, setting a goal of 500 union workers to be employed on the project. Two and a half years into construction, that goal has been exceeded twice over, with 1,141 union members on the job to date, over half of them – 583 – having worked on the cable installation on Cape Cod. Vineyard Offshore signed a letter of intent to negotiate a similar PLA with Connecticut labor unions if Vineyard Wind 2 is awarded in the pending solicitation.
“I appreciate Vineyard Offshore’s commitment to using union labor on this project,” said Keith Brothers, President, Connecticut State Building and Construction Trades Council. “I look forward to working with Vineyard Offshore once the project is approved to ensure that the onshore work is performed by skilled, reliable, well paid union workers.”
The 1,200-megawatt (MW) project, submitted in response to offshore wind solicitations pending with the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, would also support partnerships with Connecticut companies to deepen their involvement in the offshore wind industry. Contingent on award of the Vineyard Wind 2 project, these partners would include:
- ThayerMahan: Vineyard Offshore has executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Groton-based ThayerMahan, contingent upon award of the Vineyard Wind 2 project, to support continued development of the company’s advanced SeaPicket acoustic monitoring system and its Big Bubble Curtain technology, which mitigates underwater construction noise that could disturb whales and other marine life. This commitment builds on Vineyard Offshore’s pioneering partnership with ThayerMahan to localize its bubble curtain business in New Bedford in support of Vineyard Wind 1.
- Survival Systems: To meet the workforce training needs of Vineyard Wind 2, Vineyard Offshore will continue its partnership with Survival Systems, also based in Groton, which currently provides offshore wind training to Vineyard Wind 1 workers. The company has executed an MOU with Survival Systems to support the buildout of training facility infrastructure, equipment procurement, certifications, workforce training, and capacity.
“Vineyard Wind 1 gave us a chance to enter the offshore wind industry and establish our Big Bubble Curtain business in New England,” said Richard Hine, President, Offshore Energy, ThayerMahan. “We are excited about continuing our partnership with Vineyard Offshore on Vineyard Wind 2.”
“We look forward to continuing our work with Vineyard Offshore on this new project,” said Maria Hanna, President and CEO, Survival Systems. “Offshore wind has become an important part of our business and Vineyard Offshore has become a great partner.”
The company also plans to host community agreements with New London, Waterford, and Montville, where Vineyard Wind 2’s onshore facilities for landfall, cable routing, and converter station will be located.
“My staff and I appreciate the early dialogue we have had with Vineyard Offshore and look forward to the prospect of being a partner in a future project,” said Michael Passero, Mayor of New London. “I feel confident we will be able to capture the benefits of your investment for the City of New London and coordinate with you to make sure the work goes smoothly.”
“Vineyard Offshore’s experience in engagement and collaboration through development of Vineyard Wind 1 bodes well for a relationship with our community,” said Leonard G. Bunnell Sr., Mayor of Montville. “The town of Montville hosts a skilled workforce and significant opportunity for small business growth, and we look forward to further dialogue with the Vineyard Offshore team on capitalizing on those opportunities.”
“The town of Waterford has extensive experience dealing with complex and unique projects due to our decades of work with power producers, utility companies, and other large corporate entities,” said Robert Brule, First Selectman, Waterford. “Similarly, we are proud of our role in addressing regional energy challenges and see supporting clean energy as an important component of that role. We look forward to the prospect of potentially being a partner with Vineyard Offshore in its future projects.”
“Vineyard Wind 2 is a truly multi-state project with economic, community, and environmental benefits for all three southern New England states,” said Barton. “We are proud of what our project has to offer Connecticut, and look forward to working with state and local leaders to realize those benefits in full.”
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About Vineyard Offshore
Vineyard Offshore, an affiliate of CIP, is leading the development of two lease areas in the Northeast, OCS-A 522, known as Vineyard Northeast, located off the coast of Massachusetts and OCS-A 544, known as Vineyard Mid-Atlantic and home to the Excelsior Wind Project, located in the New York Bight. Additionally, the company is working to develop a project off the coast of Humboldt County in Northern California, in lease area OCS-P 0562. Combined with its joint venture development of the first-in-the-nation offshore wind project, Vineyard Wind, now under construction, Vineyard Offshore has the potential to develop more than 6 gigawatts of clean, renewable, and affordable energy on the East and West Coasts of the United States. To learn more, visit: www.vineyardoffshore.com.
Media Contact: press@vineyardoffshore.com
