Wind Power

Port projects to support offshore wind gain federal financial backing

Port projects to support offshore wind gain federal financial backing
(Laydown yards are a critical piece of infrastructure for the offshore wind sector.)

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded more than $100 million for infrastructure projects to support offshore wind energy projects in and around the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes.

The awards were part of more than $703 million in funding to improve port facilities through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. The funding was made possible by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and additional Congressional appropriations.

Awards that target offshore wind and related renewable energy deploying include:

Connecticut: Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project ($10,530,000). The project encompasses design and construction of an operations and maintenance wind port. Project elements include the installation of some 1,300 linear feet of anchored bulkheads, dredging of roughly 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.

Massachusetts: Salem Wind Port Project ($33,835,953). The project will redevelop a vacant industrial facility into a marshalling area for offshore wind energy projects. The project includes 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 around 23 acres of adjacent uplands to create a laydown area adjacent to the loadout and assembly space.

The terminal is a public-private partnership between Crowley and the city of Salem. AVANGRID will serve as the port’s anchor tenant through its Commonwealth Wind and Park City Wind projects.

Michigan: Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project ($11,051,586).  The multi-part project in Monroe, Mich., includes constructing a riverfront wharf to be used exclusively for vessel transfer of wind energy cargos.

New York: Arthur Kill Offshore Wind Terminal Project ($48,008,231). This project will fund the dredging of 740,000 cubic yards to create a 35-foot-deep ship basin to support further development of an adjacent site for an offshore wind staging and assembly facility in Staten Island, New York. The staging and assembly facility will include 32 acres of upland area, a 1,365-foot-long wharf with adjacent laydown area that has enhanced load bearing capacity, and two program areas.

The Arthur Kill project is being developed by Empire State Development and Arthur Kill Terminal. ESD serves as the umbrella organization for New York’s two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corp. and the New York Job Development Authority.

The federal Port Infrastructure Development Program supports efforts by ports and other stakeholders to improve port and related freight infrastructure. The program provides planning, capital funding, and project management assistance to improve ports’ capacity and efficiency.

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