GE supporting New England offshore wind
Courtesy SHNS
The nation's first offshore wind farm, which plans to launch commercial operations in November, has received investments from GE Energy Financial Services and the global bank Citi, the companies announced Tuesday.
The two companies are acquiring some of the ownership of Deepwater Wind's 30-megawatt project off Block Island, Rhode Island as well as federal tax benefits and credits, according to a Deepwater spokeswoman who declined to comment on the ownership structure of the project.
Rep. Paul Schmid, a Westport Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature's Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, said the investment from the two large companies "says something about what the smart money thinks about this industry."
"I think all of a sudden it shifts the way we perceive the industry and we realize that maybe we really are looking at the Saudi of offshore wind here in Massachusetts," Schmid told the News Service.
D.E. Shaw group remains the principal owner of Deepwater Wind.
"We're very proud that two world-class, U.S. companies have chosen to invest in America's first offshore wind farm," Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said in a statement released in connection with the closing of the financial arrangement. "Their backing is a testament to the significance of this project and the strength of the American offshore wind industry."
GE Renewable Energy, which company officials refer to as a "$9 billion start-up" with 13,000 employees in more than 55 countries, provided the five 6-megawatt wind turbines for the project and is providing long-term services and project maintenance. GE Energy Financial Services has $12 billion in renewable energy investment commitments in more than 18 gigawatts of wind and solar projects.
In August, GE Energy Financial Services announced its investment in the 396-megawatt, 66-turbine Merkur offshore wind project north of Borkum, Germany in the North Sea.
Citi has a goal of lending, investing and facilitating $100 billion within ten years to activities that reduce climate change and "create environmental solutions that benefit people and communities."
General Electric, which is in the process of relocating its headquarters to Boston, announced Tuesday that it plans to purchase LM Wind Power for $1.65 billion. The Denmark-based company since 1978 has produced more than 185,000 rotor blades for the wind industry and GE said the deal "in-sources wind turbine blade design and manufacturing for GE's Renewable Energy business, improving its ability to increase energy output and create value for onshore and offshore customers."
In its announcement from Paris, GE officials said about 50 percent of all new electricity capacity additions in 2015 were renewable energy sources, with wind representing 35 percent of that growth.
Cape Wind, which hoped to build the nation's first wind farm in leased waters inside Nantucket Sound, last week abandoned its appeal of a state board's decision not to extend critical transmission facility approvals. Cape Wind has been seeking investors to finance its project, which has faced lawsuits from opponents who say the planned wind farm is poorly located.
Deepwater Wind is one of the companies hoping to build wind project further offshore, with plans for projects serving New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Massachusetts has invested heavily in improvements to a marine terminal in New Bedford, equipping it to meet the needs of the wind power industry, but returns on those terminal investments still appear years away as offshore projects, including those encouraged by a new renewable energy law, are still years away.
Labor leaders from Atlantic coast states plan on Friday to tour the Block Island Wind Farm. Speakers at a ceremony prior to the tour include Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island; Catherine Bowes, Senior Manager for Climate & Energy, National Wildlife Federation; Michael Monahan, International Vice President, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; George Nee, President, Rhode Island AFL-CIO; Michael Sabitoni, President, Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council; and Michael Williams, Vice President, BlueGreen Alliance.
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