A Connecticut-based offshore wind project, Park City Wind, has opened its headquarters in downtown Bridgeport.
The project is part of Vineyard Wind — an 800-megawatt offshore wind project by the Connecticut-based Avangrid and a Danish investment firm. It’s set to be one of the country’s first major offshore wind farms.
Lars Petersen of Vineyard Wind said the project will create thousands of jobs over 25 years.
“We want to make sure that our workforce represents the city of Bridgeport and the state of Connecticut, and make sure that we are diverse and inclusive — construction jobs, highly skilled offshore technician jobs. It will be environmental scientists, there will be PhDs in electrical engineering,” Petersen said.
He said the project could bring the state nearly $900 million. Bridgeport City Council president Aidee Nieves said it will be a turning point for the city — which until recently had the last remaining coal-fired power plant in the state.
“Bridgeport has the opportunity to … work in this new and exciting industry, and reinvigorating our harbor, which has been dormant for a long time. So this is something new for our harbor,” Nieves said.
Governor Ned Lamont was on hand to express support for the project.
“It means we’ll have reliable, consistent carbon-free power. Now’s the time to be thinking about what this state’s going to look like 10 and 15 years out. Wind power’s going to be a big part of our carbon-free future,” Lamont said.
Vineyard Wind said the project should be running by 2025. The Biden administration wants 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
The company’s also renting 15 acres of land in Bridgeport Harbor to build and store components for wind turbines.
