Iberdrola and Prysmian reach ‘milestone’ agreement to turn closed coal plant into US offshore wind cable manufacturing hub

Avangrid Renewables and Prysmian Group have signed an agreement to acquire land at the former Brayton Point coal plant in Massachusetts to construct a manufacturing facility for offshore wind components.

The firms said the acquisition of the 190,200m² site for the facility, which will produce subsea transmission cables, was a “milestone” in Avangrid Renewables’ 1232MW Commonwealth Wind Commonwealth Wind (1232MW) OffshoreMassachusetts, USA, North America Click to see full details project.

Prysmian Group will invest $200 million in the manufacturing facility which will design, supply and commission cabling for Avangrid’s Commonwealth Wind and 804MW Park City Wind (Vineyard Wind South phase 1) Park City Wind (Vineyard Wind South phase 1) (804MW) OffshoreMassachusetts, USA, North America Click to see full details projects.

Avangrid has said it will make a $900 million investment in purchasing the subsea cables from Prysmian Group for both of these projects.

Commonwealth Wind received the green light from the Massachusetts state government in December as part of a competitive procurement process for offshore wind power. The cable plant was included in Avangrid Renewables’ bid package for the wind farm.

The facility forms part of a wider offshore wind hub, which is planned for the former coal plant site near the town of Somerset.

Brayton Point is a former 1,600MW coal-fired power plant which was decommissioned in 2017 and later earmarked by Avangrid Renewables’ parent company, Avangrid, and Prysmian Group as a site for offshore wind manufacturing because of its waterfront location and large area.

The developers said Commonwealth Wind will create 11,000 jobs over the project’s lifetime and generate energy to power 750,000 homes annually.

Ignacio Galán, chairman and chief executive of Avangrid parent company Iberdrola, said: “Avangrid is proud to…deliver transformational investments that create quality jobs, support local economies, and advance the development of a local supply chain for the growing US market.”

He added: “Today marks an historic milestone in the United States’ and Massachusetts’ transition to a clean energy future.”

Hakan Ozmen, executive vice president of projects at Prysmian Group, said: “The new plant will allow us to provide even closer support to our customers and gain a strong competitive advantage in a market expected to undergo sharp growth.”