MassCEC Goes Underwater NB Ocean Wind Turbine Port

MassCEC Financially Underwater Over New Bedford Ocean Wind Turbine Port

MassCEC also provided financial assistance to the Town of Falmouth relative to two-town owned wind turbines.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, MassCEC, a semi quasi-state agency funded by a tax on your electric bill has spent millions more every year than the state collects in the past decade, providing grants and other financial help for everything from Solar panels to the Falmouth wind turbine fiasco. The Falmouth town-owned wind turbines were shut by the courts in June of 2017.

The first ocean wind turbine company which failed announced plans to buy a Falmouth marina to serve as its operations headquarters. No other wind turbine company for some reason has any plans to use the Harbor.

Now comes the incomplete New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal or whatever five or six names it has been changed to over the past ten years appears to be "nothing but a boondoggle."

Governor Deval Patrick in 2010 announced for 35 million that a new multi-purpose marine commerce terminal will be built in the port of New Bedford to support the delivery, assembly, and installation of offshore wind turbines. Ten years later the port costs to complete the original plans could near 200 million.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center manages the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

By 2019 the cost jumped to a 133 million ocean terminal which was mostly bonded at taxpayers' expense with the help of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

The bond payments are $187,500.00 a month for the next thirty years on the incomplete ocean terminal. More money is needed.

More recently this month Massachusetts Clean Energy Center lost a 20 million dredging lawsuit including legal fees near 22 million. As of 2020, the port cost has gone to 155 million.

The New Bedford ocean wind turbine port has no large walking crawler cranes that are found in every ocean port worldwide. A crawler crane has its boom mounted on an undercarriage fitted with a set of crawler tracks that provide both stability and mobility.

The lack of the multimillion-dollar cranes was described as another financial phase of the South Terminal ocean wind port. Currently, there are no walking cranes to unload conventionally equipped ships. The terminal was engineered to sustain mobile crane and storage loads that rival the highest capacity ports in the world but lacks the crane service

In February of 2010 a Port and Infrastructure Analysis for Offshore Wind Energy Development was prepared for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

The rail link remains one-half mile from the ocean wind port. The City of New Bedford submitted TIGER applications for rail extensions; however, the New Bedford rail line will connect the existing tracks to the State Pier, but not the South Terminal aka ocean wind turbine port. There is no rail link to the ocean wind turbine port.

The New Bedford hurricane barrier built the 1960s with a hurricane gate at the entrance. The hurricane gate only has a legal clearance of 120 feet ( conventional wind turbine Jack-Up barges do not fit). The widest ship to ever enter the port was 80 feet. A typical jack-up barge has a width of 140 feet.

A small barge called the R/D MacDonald the only US-built wind turbine "jack-up" barge was built to fit through the New Bedford hurricane gate. It was built for small 3.6-megawatt ocean wind turbines. Today ocean turbines are three times that size at eight megawatts and larger. No one knows who paid for the barge or what happened to it?

The New Bedford ocean wind turbine port, South Terminal, Marine Commerce Terminal, or whatever they call it lacks the description of what is a maritime facility that may comprise one or more wharves where ships may dock to load and discharge cargo.

Established by Chapter 23J of General Laws, MassCEC receives funding from the Renewable Energy Trust Fund how did this state agency go so far underwater?

When you are at home worried about paying your bills due to the COVID 19 crisis. Remember the $187,500.00 a month the MassCEC is paying for the next thirty years and they are not finished building the so-called ocean port.

-------May 7 2020 Update Governor Charlie Baker Adds Another 24 Million-------

It was reported in 2018 and stated the channel outside the hurricane gates needs an additional one million cubic yards of PCB tainted material dredged. In addition, the Baker-Polito Administration, 9/17/19, Announces $24 Million in Funding to Dredge New Bedford Inner Harbor. Dredging continues into 2020 and 2021 in the upper harbor.
Link:
https://www.mass.gov/news/bake...

New Bedford Harbor, which has been a superfund site since 1983. Ongoing dredging of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, also known as PCBs is estimated at 1.1 million cubic yards.

The abandoned Cannon Street power plant in New Bedford next to the ocean wind terminal contains every toxin in the world except nuclear.

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New Bedford "Port" Announcement
Nov 17, 2010

On October 20,2010, Governor Patrick joined Secretary Bowles, Congressman Barney Frank, New Bedford Mayor Scott Lange, local legislators and municipal officials to announce a new multi-purpose port to support shipping, other commercial activities and the delivery, assembly, and installation of offshore wind turbines.

Note # The port in 2020 ten years later remains incomplete -No cranes - No rail link