Brayton Point to become green energy hub
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| The Brayton Point Power Station just after its closure in 2017. MEIHE CHEN VIA WIKIPEDIA |
The site of the last coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts will become home to the state’s first offshore wind manufacturing facility, Governor Charlie Baker announced Thursday.
Brayton
Point power plant in Somerset was shuttered in 2017 after more than 50 years in
operation, the final coal generator to go offline before Massachusetts went
completely coal-free.
The
site of the former plant, which sits on Mount Hope Bay, near Providence, Rhode
Island, will host a $200 million facility manufacturing undersea transmission
lines that will connect the grid to wind turbines offshore, beginning with
Vineyard Wind’s Commonwealth Wind project, which will generate
1,200 megawatts of electricity, WBUR reported.
“I
do think in some respects the industry has bought in to the opportunities
associated with wind,” Governor Baker said. “And I think if we continue to play
our cards well, we can make a very big investment in the commonwealth and in
this region going forward and support a lot of activity in deep water [wind] up
and down the Atlantic coast.”