State Commits To Salem Wind Terminal Energy Purchase

SALEM, MA — Gov. Maura Healey said on Friday that the state of Massachusetts has agreed to purchase enough wind energy to power 400,000 homes across the Commonwealth from the New England 1 project tied to the planned offshore wind terminal in Salem harbor.

Healey said the commitment as part of three procurements announced on Friday is New England's "largest offshore wind selection to date" and will produce enough energy to power 20 percent of all homes across the state.

The state also committed to purchasing wind energy from the SouthCoast Wind and Vineyard Wind 2 projects that Healey said will serve 1.4 million Massachusetts homes and reduce the state's carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking one million cars off the road.

"Simply put, we are going big," Gov. Healey said in a statement on Friday. "The world will look to New England for the future of clean energy."

Avangrid, the company that will operate the terminal marshaling port in Salem, said in a statement that once the purchasing agreement is signed and approved construction can begin in 2025 with $3 billion in local investment and 4,400 full-time equivalent jobs expected to be created in Salem and at the manufacturing facility in New Bedford.

Avangrid said the project would be scheduled to reach full commercial operation in 2029.

"New England Wind 1 is positioned to deliver an urgent energy, climate, and economic solution to Massachusetts, and we look forward to working with the Commonwealth, Tribal Nations, organized labor, and our community partners moving forward," Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll was Salem's mayor during the negotiation to bring the wind terminal to the Witch City and spoke at the project's ceremonial groundbreaking last month.

"This historic offshore wind selection is an important building block to our regional offshore wind industry," Driscoll said. "This year, we broke ground on a new offshore wind port in Salem,
expanded our terminal in New Bedford, invested in job training and academic programs and won $389 million in federal funds for transmission.

"Like any new industry, offshore wind has faced headwinds, but our coalition of states is rising to meet the challenges and seize the tremendous economic, climate, and energy opportunities on the other side."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)