BOSTON, Mass. — Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a global leader in green energy investment and in offshore wind development through its affiliate Vineyard Offshore, recently hosted Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Kevin Sligh and other agency leadership for a tour of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, which serves as the staging port and offshore control and marine coordination center for the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind 1 project.

“We’ve worked very closely with BSEE to ensure that our project is built in a safe and environmentally responsible manner,” said Klaus S. Moeller, CEO of the Vineyard Wind Project and Chief Project Officer for Vineyard Offshore. “It was an honor to showcase our operations at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal to Director Sligh, so he could see firsthand the people who are working every day to set and meet the highest possible standards for our new industry.”

“The control and marine coordination centers we visited today provide vital information to developers about the performance of their windfarms, and they will also be critical to BSEE in our role as the lead federal regulator for ensuring safe and environmentally responsible offshore wind operations,” said Director Sligh. “The BSEE team is currently evaluating the centers and exploring ways to perform oversight of activities in a sound and practical way while allowing the developers to maximize power production and satisfy their regulatory obligations.”

The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal serves as the staging and assembly port for turbine components, and the central command for assigning and tracking working vessels and monitoring personnel working offshore. Operations at the terminal are vital to ensuring safe, coordinated operations, and allowing the operator to remain aware of all vessel activities and needs.

The Vineyard Wind 1 control center, which is housed in conjunction with the marine coordination center, serves as point for the management of assets located miles away offshore.

While touring the centers, BSEE leaders also visited the staging port where the turbine components – blades, tower, and nacelles – are stored and assembled prior to being shipped offshore for installation.

From the outset of this project, Vineyard Wind recognized the importance of building and supporting a workforce of local, highly skilled, and diverse tradespeople. The valuable collaboration with union leadership on this project is a prime example of how this new industry can be a responsive member of the communities it serves, ensuring accessible and family-sustaining careers.

Vineyard Wind began offshore construction in late 2022, achieved steel-in-the-water in June, and completed the nation’s first offshore substation in July. Construction flows through the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. In July 2021, Vineyard Wind signed the first Project Labor Agreement for an offshore wind project in the United States, which outlined the creation of 500 union jobs though the project. In December 2023, project shareholders announced that Vineyard Wind 1 has delivered nearly double of its commitment through the PLA by creating 937 union jobs through two years of construction.

An 806-megawatt project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years, save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation, and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road annually.

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About Vineyard Offshore

Vineyard Offshore, an affiliate of CIP, is leading the development of two lease areas in the Northeast, in addition to a recently acquired lease in Northern California, OCS-P 0562. Lease area OCS-A522, known as Vineyard Northeast, is located off the coast of Massachusetts. OCS-A 544, known as Vineyard Mid-Atlantic and home to the Excelsior Wind Project, is located in the New York Bight. 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 and www.CIP.com.

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