State Throws Support Behind New Bedford Wind Energy Efforts

Massachusetts officials are pledging support for a New Bedford port project the city hopes will attract offshore wind developers.

The 28-acre, $100 million New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal would be big enough to manage the equipment needed to build wind turbines.

State Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rick Sullivan was in New Bedford on Monday to sign a cooperation agreement with the city.

Mayor Jon Mitchell said New Bedford is ideally located to be the launch point for Cape Wind and other future wind projects.

"We don't see any of these aspirations for our city and our port as pie in the sky," Mitchell said. "They're very realistic, and based on good data, and I think industry is starting to see it the same way."

Twenty-five percent of the nation's wind reserves are in the area south of Martha's Vineyard that's been designated for offshore development by the federal government. New Bedford is the closest commercial port to that zone.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which is managing the development, has received three bids for construction. A contract is expected to be awarded later this spring.