A new memorandum of understanding creates a framework to negotiate participation of Maine labor in the construction of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine.
New England Aqua Ventus LLC, or NEAV, and the Maine Building and Construction Trades Council, on behalf of itself and its affiliated local unions, yesterday announced they reached agreement on the memorandum.
NEAV is developing an offshore wind demonstration project near Monhegan with floating platform technology developed by the University of Maine.
The memorandum creates a framework that will lead to future negotiations of a project labor agreement and includes initiatives to bring new workers into the skilled trades to work on offshore wind, according to a news release.
Workforce training
NEAV and the council agreed to work together to develop training and workforce development programs.
One initiative is to use pre-apprenticeship programs like Helmets to Hard Hats and Building Futures to recruit and train veterans and local disadvantaged young adults for employment on offshore wind projects.
The goal is to provide hundreds of union construction jobs. NEAV also said it was committed to building a supply chain in Maine for offshore wind and maximizing the involvement of Maine-based organizations in all aspects of the project.
NEAV is a partnership between UMaine, Diamond Offshore Wind and RWE Renewables.
Diamond is a subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Corp. and RWE said it’s the world’s second-largest company in offshore wind energy.
The two companies are part of a consortium led by the Governor’s Energy Office to develop an array of up to 12 wind-energy turbines off Maine’s southern coast.
$125M in economic activity
The project labor agreement “is part of our commitment to doing everything we can to use Maine workers and content in our development, construction and operation activities, Chris Wissemann, Diamond’s CEO, said in the release.
The Monhegan demonstration project is expected to produce more than $125 million in total economic activity and create hundreds of Maine-based jobs during the construction period. If approved, construction would likely take place in 2022-23.
The signing of the memorandum “is the first step toward building a new green energy economy that provides a ladder to good carbon-free careers in the trades right here in Maine,” said John Napolitano, president of the Maine Building and Construction Trades Council. “Project labor agreements have been used for generations between building trades unions and contractors to ensure the job is done on time and within budget while drawing on a ready pool of skilled, professional union trades people.”
The agreement is also expected to give veterans, youth and minorities opportunities to learn the trades and to provide an anchor for in-state work. Maine building trades workers often have to travel outside the state for work, he added.
Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Energy Office, said Maine’s clean energy economy is creating good-paying jobs around the state.
“With wind and solar among the fastest growing employment fields in the country, agreements like this underscore the economic potential for Maine workers in the clean energy economy, as well the workforce development opportunities that are needed to meet this demand,” Burgess said.
The Monhegan project will consist of a single semisubmersible concrete floating platform, developed by UMaine, that will support a commercial 10- to 12-megawatt wind turbine and will be deployed in a state-designated area 2 miles south of Monhegan Island and 14 miles from the Maine coast.
The purpose of the project is to further evaluate the floating technology, monitor environmental factors and develop best practices for offshore wind to coexist with traditional marine activities in the Gulf of Maine. It is expected to supply clean, renewable electricity to the Maine grid.
But the project has stirred controversy. Last month, fishermen in nearly 100 boats from the midcoast gathered in waters near Monhegan to protest the pace of development of offshore wind energy infrastructure, and potential impact on commercial fisheries.