New Bedford to build first US offshore wind farm

(25 May 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4436448

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Bedford, Massachusetts, US - 24 May 2023
1. Various AERIALS of vessel carrying wind turbine tower sections to build first US offshore wind farm ++MUTE++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Mitchell, New Bedford mayor: ++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOTS 1,3++
“Today was a big day for New Bedford because of the arrival of the vessel behind me, which is carrying the first components of America's first commercial scale offshore wind project, the Vineyard Wind Project. Offshore wind has been a maturing industry for the last 30 years in Europe, and it employs tens of thousands of people. And it's just arriving now in the United States.”
3. Various AERIALS of vessel carrying wind turbine tower sections
4. Various of vessel arriving at port
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Mitchell, New Bedford mayor: ++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOT 4++
“There is a poetic coming about for New Bedford. We were the center of the energy industry in the 19th century as the leading whaling port in the world. And now here we are in this brand new energy industry leading the way.”
6. Close turbine tower sections
7. Various AERIALS of vessel carrying wind turbine tower sections ++MUTE++
ANNOTATION: The offshore wind farm is expected to put out 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, beginning this year.
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Klaus Skoust Moeller, Vineyard Wind CEO: ++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOTS 7,9++
“The project is only the first step in a big journey. President Biden has a very ambitious target of having 30 gigawatt of offshore wind by 2030. We are about we are about 1/30 of that. So we are the first step, but a very important step that I hope will show the way that it is possible to construct offshore wind. It's possible to coexist with all of the stakeholders here in the sea.”
9. AERIAL of vessel ++MUTE++
10. AERIAL of vessel docked at port ++NIGHT SHOT++ ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
New Bedford was once the city that lit the world, exporting vast quantities of whale oil for lamps in the early 1800s.

Now, New Bedford aspires to light the world again, in a different relationship with the sea, as the offshore wind industry arrives here.

On Wednesday, the vessel UHL Felicity bringing wind turbine tower sections from Portugal reached the Port of New Bedford.

Once assembled out on the water this summer by developer Vineyard Wind, the turbines will stand more than 850 feet high.

It’s a milestone for the industry.

The United States does not yet have a single commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

But it will soon.

Vineyard Wind is building a 62-turbine wind farm 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the Massachusetts coast.

It’s expected to put out 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, beginning this year.

The first US offshore wind farm opened off Rhode Island’s Block Island in late 2016.

But with five turbines, it’s not commercial scale.

Another project, South Fork Wind, is scheduled to start construction this summer off the coasts of New York and Rhode Island.

Since it’s smaller than Vineyard Wind, it will likely be the first US commercial-scale wind farm to open.

The United States is decades behind Europe, where the world’s first offshore wind farm was erected in 1991.

The first US wind farm was supposed to be a project off the coast of Massachusetts known as Cape Wind, but it failed after years of litigation and local opposition.

The Biden administration wants to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.






AP Video by Rodrique Ngowi
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