U.S. offshore wind projects test the strength promised by Joe Biden’s green jobs

New Bedford, Massachusetts, was a rich center of the energy industry, sending boats to hunt sperm in the 19th century. The oils that lit the lamps of the century.

The small city is now among the states in the northeastern United States the poorest and the search for energy revival – as a place to assemble pieces for giant wind complexes projected in ocean waters.

The White House will soon accept Vineyard Wind, the first wind power in the U.S. offshore market. Mounting its 64 tall turbines would give New Bedford an economic boost.

The project will also be the first test of President Joe Biden’s creation of “good, unionized labor wages” as U.S. carbon emissions are halved this decade. he committed at its international climate summit this week.

Providing well-paid jobs is a political condition of Biden the goal of a carbon-free energy sector By 2035. The calendar According to data from the U.S. Energy and Employment Report, its agenda threatens fossil fuel workers who pay more than calendar or wind workers. Changes in sustainable energy policy are likely to be supported in Congress by members of parliament, including Senator Joe Manchin, a coal-rich Democrat from West Virginia.

The offshore wind sector will be completely new in the U.S., and rows of white turbines will send power to coastal markets. The Biden administration established it last month vision The trade association WindEurope has announced that by 3030, 30 gigawatts of offshore wind will be installed and 77,000 jobs will be created.

“There’s a lot of potential in offshore wind,” said Philip Jordan, vice president of BW Research, which looks at energy employment. “It’s a huge job-creating potential.”

Most jobs involve building wind farms rather than operating them. According to an analysis of the 800-megawatt Vine Wind Project at the University of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, 83 percent of the 1,180 jobs needed full-time would be temporary construction work.

However, the number of projects already under development could lead to years of construction work, Jordan said. East Coast states have agreed to nearly 12GW to develop offshore wind energy for European-led companies such as Orsted in Denmark, Equinor in Norway and Vineyard Wind, enough to supply Iberdrola’s Spanish subsidiary and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. About 4m homes.

The lifetime cost of new offshore wind projects fell in the last decade when the industry flourished in Europe, but according to the Energy Information Administration it is above ground wind, solar scale or combined cycle natural gas power plants. Carbon-targeted states have boosted demand for coastal wind projects through public procurement.

States believe it is more than a source of clean sea wind electricity. They chose developers who had plans to hire unionized labor, use locally manufactured parts, and help poor or polluted neighborhoods.

“One of the biggest tensions is how states balance the desire for localization and maximize economic benefits with the cost of delivered energy,” said David Purcell, director of the Renewables Consulting Group.

The Massachusetts services will purchase the energy from Vineyard Wind under the conditions set by state law that does not have a special employment contract. The last sea breeze in the state offer request It weighs 70 percent on the price of energy and 30 percent on economic benefits, including commitments to use ports like New Bedford, where wind turbine parts will be sorted and loaded onto ships that go to offshore construction sites.

“We’ve been looking for sea breeze because we see it as a generational opportunity to attract the capital to the new Bedford, at a time when it’s doing a very difficult thing for cities that aren’t part of the big meters,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. 95,000 cities.

New York took a different approach, consolidating union jobs in law. This month the state legislature passed a bill renewable energy companies sign contracts with construction unions or offer “valid wages” established by a trade union reference. Companies must promise that they will not enter into union organizing campaigns by signing “labor peace” agreements.

Gary LaBarbera, Chairman of the New York State Building and Construction Professions Council, praised the provisions, saying they will ensure that well-trained and highly qualified staff will keep projects on schedule and on budget. “I think the cost impact will be neutral,” he said.

It will take years to confirm the historical costs of building public works in a high state. The first two offshore projects contracted by New York will pay $ 25 per MW over premium hourly wholesale electricity prices, although the state government has said the projects will add less than a dollar a month to customer bills.

Gina McCarthy, U.S. National Climate Adviser, he spoke in March to build “massive turbines actually manufactured in the United States” and “special ships to install these new structures” in U.S. ports. But the federal government must first accept the critical mass of offshore projects to make its vision a reality.

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Major electric manufacturers General Electric, Siemens Gamesa and Vestas do not have offshore wind farms in the US. GE makes Haliade-X turbines over 800 meters high selected by Vineyard Wind in France, although the company is headquartered in Boston.

“We’re excited to see the U.S. sea wind boost,” GE said. “We will continue to assess market conditions, including the presence of ongoing demand to ensure that any facility is fully utilized, to determine the best way to assist our customers.”

With some turbine rotors rather than a football field, the size of offshore wind equipment can make investments in port cities to handle equipment too large to move over rails or roads.

The terms of the New York contract prompted Equinor to choose a port in the state capital of Albany to manufacture turbine towers for the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects owned by BP. A state spokesman said the terms of the current wage and project agreement for the port will apply.

New Jersey intends to turn the quay plot into a “wind port” so that the equipment could be channeled to Ocean Wind in Orsted and other projects. The German-based EEW recently opened a plant to manufacture turbine bases in cities on the New Jersey River, best known for its oil refinery.

It has been complicated by a 101-year-old law to ship turbine components from coast to sea Jones ActAll ships traveling along U.S. shores require construction and ownership by a U.S. company. Wind turbine installation vessels do not meet this criterion if Virginia-based Dominion Energy ordered in exchange for $ 500 million.

Meanwhile, Vineyard Wind plans to hire union sailors to pilot U.S. flag-feeding vessels from New Bedford to a Belgian-owned marine facility to a ship that will be standing on the seabed.

“It’s effective. When you handle these big components, you add time, you add cost, you add safety requirements, ”said Jamie MacDonald, Boston’s chief operating officer, at Xodus Energy Consulting.

Xodus is among the businesses looking for an opportunity in offshore wind power in the US. The Scotland-based company opened its Boston office last year and has now hired Bedford staff.

“I think there’s an opportunity for the U.S. to take over,” MacDonald said. “We currently have seven turbines installed, and they want to reach 20GW by 2030. Piping, opportunity, is there for them to be leaders around the world.”

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