September 23, 2023 — As the offshore wind industry grows in New England, more infrastructure is needed to support these massive turbines. In 2012, the Port of New Bedford began to prepare for the future of offshore wind by upgrading its existing port.
Ports like Providence, Rhode Island; Salem, Massachusetts; and New London, Connecticut, are just some of the regional ports vying for offshore wind developers. As technology improves and turbines get larger, space becomes a challenge. The city of New Bedford is preparing for the future by building a new terminal within the Port of New Bedford. This new terminal stands on what was recently water.
“It’s a complicated project interrelated with a number of other activities within the port that’s using dredged material to fill that area and create the space. When complete early next year, it’ll be another 10.5 acres of space that could be used possibly for more commercial fishing or to support offshore wind,” Gordon Carr, Executive Director of the New Bedford Port Authority, said.