By JENNIFER McDERMOTT The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is visiting a new offshore wind manufacturing hub in Providence on Thursday to talk about the Biden administration’s plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 and to promote the investments in the $1 trillion infrastructure deal.
Granholm is scheduled to visit the Port of Providence, where Orsted, a Danish energy company, and the utility Eversource are constructing a building for the fabrication and assembly of large, advanced components for turbine foundations. The building is scheduled to be finished this spring to support two offshore wind projects, Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind.
Revolution Wind is a planned offshore wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts to provide power for Connecticut and Rhode Island. The federal government is currently reviewing the construction and operations plan.
The South Fork Wind project will be located off the coast of Rhode Island. Its transmission system will connect to the electric grid on Long Island, New York, making it the state’s first offshore wind farm and jumpstarting the offshore wind industry there.
Granholm announced last week that the administration approved the construction and operations for South Fork Wind, as part of a plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. It was the administration’s second approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. The first commercial-scale project is off the coast of Massachusetts.
The first U.S. offshore wind farm began operating off Block Island, Rhode Island, in late 2016. But at five turbines, it’s not commercial-scale. Orsted acquired the developer, Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind, and now operates that wind farm.
In Providence, Granholm is touring the construction site for the manufacturing hub Thursday afternoon with Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and officials from Orsted and Eversource, and meeting with union workers who are building the facility. She was also scheduled to visit a manufacturer of electric vehicle chargers and a clean energy technology company in Connecticut. On Friday, she’s hosting a roundtable discussion in Boston about the transition to clean energy.
Granholm has been making stops around the country to talk about how investments in infrastructure incentivize companies like these to open and expand, driving the transition away from fossil fuels, creating jobs and helping people save money on energy. She is visiting areas that are proactive in reducing emissions and areas where more work needs to be done.
President Joe Biden signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law in November, declaring that the new infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life “change for the better” for the American people.
