Mayflower Wind and Anbaric Development Partners have signed an agreement for Mayflower Wind to use transmission assets developed by Anbaric to bring offshore wind to the Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts.
“Mayflower Wind is committed to helping Massachusetts and New England achieve their ambitious clean energy goals,” said Michael Brown, Mayflower Wind CEO. “The transmission infrastructure at Brayton Point initially developed by Anbaric and now owned by Mayflower, will help us make those goals a reality. We look forward to collaborating with the community as we invest in and develop this project to bring clean energy to Brayton Point and beyond.”
The Mayflower Wind offshore wind energy project will use high-voltage direct current technology that minimizes marine cabling, reduces energy losses and strengthens the New England grid. Anbaric has taken steps to make Brayton Point, which is located on a waterfront, as an optimal location to integrate offshore wind into the New England electric grid.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Mayflower Wind to bring our unique expertise to scale offshore wind and achieve renewable energy goals,” said Clarke Bruno, Anbaric CEO. “Brayton Point is a unique site to bring offshore wind to our shores while also bringing infrastructure investment and responsible development to the local community.”
If fully built out, Mayflower Wind’s lease area will supply over 2,000 MW of offshore wind. This cable landing in Somerset will supplement Mayflower’s long-standing and continuing efforts in Falmouth on Cape Cod.
“This marks the beginning of positive change for Brayton Point, and puts this piece of land on a path toward becoming a thriving hub for offshore wind,” said State Rep. Patricia Haddad. “Anbaric had the early vision to bring offshore wind to Brayton Point. Repurposing this valuable grid infrastructure for offshore wind is the first step to growing the industry right here in Somerset and realizing a vision that has been years in the making.”
For 50 years, Brayton Point was home to the 1,600 MW coal-fired Brayton Point Power Station, the largest coal-fired power plant in New England and the last in Massachusetts. The plant was closed in 2017, and in 2019 Anbaric presented a vision to create a Renewable Energy Center on the site of the shuttered plant. One aspect of that vision was bringing power ashore at Brayton Point — Mayflower Wind is now making that a reality.
Mayflower Wind is continuing with its efforts in Falmouth to connect its first 804-MW project into the New England electric grid via the Cape Cod interconnection point.
“Massachusetts just issued its third solicitation to bring up to another 1,600 MW of offshore wind online,” Brown said. “Mayflower Wind looks forward to delivering on the Commonwealth’s commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Our position at Brayton Point only strengthens our efforts to provide additional clean offshore wind energy to New England.”
News item from Mayflower Wind
Filed Under: Cables & connectors, Components, News, Offshore wind, Projects
