Port authority will unveil plan today for offshore wind use at State Pier

New London — After months of negotiating in private, the Connecticut Port Authority will unveil for the first time Tuesday a plan to redevelop State Pier into a staging area for the offshore wind industry and will then ask the public to comment on the proposal.

The details will be presented at a public meeting this afternoon at the Holiday Inn in New London.

The proposal is for “maximum utilization” of the State Pier facility, which, during construction campaigns, would be used exclusively by the offshore wind industry, but also includes bringing in other types of cargo, said David Kooris, acting chairman of the port authority’s board and deputy commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

“There’s a lot of hybrid in-betweens,” Kooris said.

Tuesday’s event will start informally at 5 p.m. with the parties involved in the $93 million private-public investment at State Pier set up at tables to talk about the various aspects of the project.

Representatives from Eversource and Ørsted, partners in the Revolution Wind Farm planned for federal waters about 65 miles off the coast of New London, and Gateway, the New Haven-based port operator selected by the port authority earlier this year to manage operations at State Pier, will be present.

A formal presentation will start at 5:30 p.m., followed by public comment. The port authority is asking anyone wishing to comment at the meeting to sign up when they arrive at the event.

The port authority has been beset by challenges as it has worked to hash out the details of the State Pier deal, announced by Gov. Ned Lamont in early May, including personnel issues and scrutiny over financial decision making. But port authority officials and the other parties to the redevelopment plan have maintained that the offshore wind deal is pushing forward.

Tuesday’s meeting will also include discussion of the offshore wind industry and its implications for New London, which officials have pushed as a hub for the offshore wind industry, citing its location, skilled workforce and lack of height restrictions.