GOVERNOR PATRICK PROMOTES MASSACHUSETTS’ CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVES AT LONDON OFFSHORE WIND FORUM

GOVERNOR PATRICK PROMOTES MASSACHUSETTS’ CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVES AT LONDON OFFSHORE WIND FORUM

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Wednesday, September 17, 2014 – Governor Deval Patrick today addressed European offshore wind industry leaders and government officials at a forum to discuss opportunities to grow the global offshore wind industry. Governor Patrick joined Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult Chief Executive Andrew Jamieson and representatives from RenewableUK, National Grid MA, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and the UK Trade & Investment office to discuss Massachusetts’ emerging offshore wind sector and lessons learned from the United Kingdom’s offshore wind industry experience, which extends back more than 20 years.

The forum is part of the Massachusetts-United Kingdom Innovation Partnership Mission, the second stop on Governor Patrick’s Innovation Partnership Mission to Denmark, the United Kingdom and France.

“The investments we are making in related infrastructure have positioned Massachusetts as a first-in-the-Nation hub for a new offshore wind industry that will bring us both good jobs and clean, Massachusetts-made energy,” said Governor Patrick. “I am excited to explore how the United Kingdom and Massachusetts can work together in this growing industry.”

During the forum, Governor Patrick highlighted the ambitious goals and targeted investments made under his Administration to advance the offshore wind industry in the United States. Last week, Governor Patrick announced a lease agreement between the MassCEC and Cape Wind – America’s first offshore wind development project – for use of the South Coast Marine Commerce Terminal, located southeast of Boston in New Bedford. It is the first facility in North America designed to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects. The Commonwealth began construction on the facility in April 2013 and with this announcement, Cape Wind is scheduled to be the terminal’s first tenant.

“Offshore wind not only cuts greenhouse gas emissions and creates a Massachusetts-made source of energy, it is an economic driver that will create jobs in Massachusetts for years to come,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Maeve Vallely Bartlett.

“The Massachusetts clean energy industry already employs 80,000 workers and learning from the experiences of our European partners will only help us grow these numbers even higher,” said MassCEC CEO Alicia Barton.

Earlier this year, Governor Patrick joined the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to announce more than 742,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts available for commercial wind energy leasing. The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab estimated that this area has the potential to generate between 4,000 to 5,000 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power more than half of the homes in Massachusetts.

The clean energy industry in Massachusetts is already yielding economic benefits as a result of the Patrick Administration’s progressive clean energy policies and strategic investments, with 11.8 percent job growth in the last year and 24 percent job growth over the last two years. The US Department of Energy estimates that the offshore wind industry will employ 43,000 workers nationwide by the year 2030.

From September 14 to September 19, the Innovation Partnership Mission is making stops in Copenhagen in Denmark, London in the United Kingdom and in Lyon and Paris, France where the Governor and members of the delegation are visiting companies and business organizations to expand opportunities between Massachusetts and the European Union for economic development and job creation in the innovation economy sectors.