The new State Pier in New London will create jobs
With the Connecticut Port Authority’s final State Pier permit recently approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, our state is on the brink of being home to one of the country’s premier port facilities for the offshore wind industry. It will serve as a major new jobs hub, bolster the state’s economy and help launch a new industry that is imperative for fighting climate change and achieving a sustainable, carbon-free future for Connecticut and beyond.
The timing couldn’t be better for the redevelopment of State Pier to fully take shape using a Project Labor Agreement, which includes pre-apprenticeship training programs to deliver huge job opportunities to the local New London Building Trades Council. The construction work to transform the pier into a modern, heavy-lift capable facility will create hundreds of prevailing wage, union construction jobs — such as laborers, ironworkers, electricians, operating engineers, carpenters and other trades — that include pension and health benefits.
As State Pier hums with construction activity, New London’s economy and small businesses will be bolstered by an influx of workers frequenting local establishments. It is estimated that the State Pier project will add millions of dollars in value to the New London economy, including indirect spending at local retail and restaurants as well as labor income.
Connecticut has great partners in Ørsted and Eversource, who are building a green jobs workforce and helping to develop a regional supply chain to support wind farm development. Once the pier redevelopment project is complete, the companies will lease the modernized State Pier for 10 years and use it as a wind turbine staging and Assembly facility for Connecticut’s first offshore wind farm, Revolution Wind. State Pier will also support its two other major projects in development in the Northeast, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind, both of which will serve New York.
To meet the Biden administration’s decarbonization goals, South Fork Wind is slated to start construction early next year, and Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind are on track to receive federal approval over the next two years. Revolution Wind will deliver 304 megawatts of clean energy to Connecticut and 400 megawatts to Rhode Island. All three projects will collectively provide enough clean energy to power more than one million homes in the Northeast.
Equally advantageous are the continuing, well-paying positions created throughout the construction of the wind farms. Ørsted and Eversource will bring one of the largest, most advanced installation vessels to State Pier to support the construction of its offshore wind farms. In doing so, they will help create and sustain dozens of diverse jobs for wind turbine generator pre-assembly operations at State Pier.
Additionally, as State Pier becomes a regional epicenter for the offshore wind industry, it will be an anchor to attract other aspects of the offshore wind supply chain to a region rich with manufacturing and technology, generating even more economic opportunities.
One of the more exciting aspects of the project is the increased heavy-lift capacity for the pier. State Pier has been one of Connecticut’s most underutilized assets for several generations, and with this project comes an opportunity to breathe new life into one of southeastern Connecticut’s prime maritime assets. State Pier’s infrastructure improvements and enhanced footprint will make it a more marketable facility for our state, which will help Connecticut attract new businesses and a broader range of cargo types than it previously handled.
With this investment in a modernized State Pier, new economic opportunities will be open to our state, bringing in more state revenue from various cargo sources after offshore wind or while there are lulls in offshore wind project construction. And we have a private partner in Ørsted and Eversource to help us make this happen with a nearly $100 million private investment in State Pier, including lease payments.
New London, too, stands to benefit directly from a redeveloped State Pier and the offshore wind industry. The city will realize more than $1 million in new annual revenue from payments from the different project partners. But equally important, it will be a hub for this vital, new, national industry that creates jobs and spurs economic development while fighting climate change and creating a better planet for future generations.