Former coal power site in Massachusetts to become offshore wind manufacturing hub

Avangrid Renewables and Prysmian Group have finalised an agreement to buy a 47-acre site at the former Brayton Point coal plant in Somerset where it plans to develop the facility

A former coal power plant site in Massachusetts is to become home to the state’s first manufacturing hub for offshore wind components.

Avangrid Renewables – a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc – and Prysmian Group have finalised an agreement to buy a 47-acre site at the former Brayton Point coal plant in Somerset where it plans to develop the facility.

Brayton Point is a former 1.6GW coal-fired power plant, which was decommissioned in 2017 and the site was identified by the two companies as an ideal location for local offshore wind manufacturing due to its waterfront industrial location and large acreage.

Prysmian Group plans to construct the facility, with a $200 million (£147m) investment, to manufacture subsea transmission cables and will design, supply, install and commission cabling for AVANGRID’s Commonwealth Wind and Park City Wind projects.

Commonwealth Wind, was was selected by Massachusetts through its third competitive procurement process for offshore wind power, represents the largest offshore wind project in New England and will generate enough energy to power 750,000 homes annually while creating 11,000 full time jobs over the project’s lifetime.

Governor Charlie Baker said: “The Commonwealth has taken aggressive, nation leading steps in our effort to secure cost-effective offshore wind energy that contributes to our goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and provides critical energy reliability.

“The construction of the Prysmian Groups new facility at Brayton Point will have considerable positive impacts on the state, the regional workforce and local economies and we are pleased to join so many partners here today to celebrate this milestone.”

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