MassCEC

MassCEC Offshore Wind Initiatives

• Stakeholder Engagement – MassCEC serves as a focal point for constructive engagement between industry, government and a wide range of non-government organizations and institutions on offshore wind topics.
• Environmental Characterization – In partnership with BOEM, MassCEC has sponsored multi-year (2011-2017) studies of marine wildlife focused on gathering baseline data to inform the federal permitting process and accelerate the responsible siting of offshore wind projects.  The studies included underwater acoustic buoys and aerial surveys to assess whale, turtle, and avian activity in the wind energy areas.
• Metocean Data – MassCEC is partnering with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and AWS Truepower to collect hub height wind speed and other metocean data near federal offshore wind energy areas using a WindCube LIDAR installed on a WHOI-owned platform located one mile south of Martha’s Vineyard. The first full year of data collection was completed in October 2017 and a second year of data collection is currently underway. Data and analysis products are available on MassCEC’s Metocean Data page.
• Ports and Infrastructure Assessment – In order to maximize economic development opportunities in Massachusetts, MassCEC is conducting an engineering assessment of 18 waterfront sites with potential to be redeveloped by private industry investment to support offshore wind component manufacturing, staging, and long-term O&M.
• Workforce – MassCEC develops and implements programs to ensure that Massachusetts workers have the skills, training and certifications necessary to participate in the offshore wind industry. In 2018, MassCEC commissioned an Offshore Wind Workforce Assessment to provide a comprehensive analysis of the workforce needs and economic development impacts associated with the deployment of 1600 megawatts of offshore wind in Massachusetts. On October 1, MassCEC released the Massachusetts Offshore Wind Workforce Training and Development Solicitation, responses to which are due on November 30.
• Transmission Planning – In 2014, MassCEC commissioned a report to analyze the transmission infrastructure necessary to interconnect future Massachusetts offshore wind projects to the regional electric grid. The report identified routes and interconnection locations where offshore wind energy can be connected to the ISO-NE grid.
• Research ­– MassCEC provides through its AmplifyMass programme funding for academic and research institutions across Massachusetts to advance research and innovation in offshore wind development, technology and operations. Click here to read more about previous wind research awards. 
  • AmplifyMass provides funding of up to $500,000 for academic or company projects pursuing cost share or adders for a federal/non-federal prime award (such as awards from ARPA-E, NSF, DOE, and USABC), as well as funding of up to $100,000 for academic projects that are not tied directly to a prime grant. In these cases, projects must aim to commercialize or substantially de-risk an innovation that falls within MassCEC’s mission.
    This last funding opportunity of AmplifyMass programme can be coupled with  WEAMEC’s call International Research Projects for collaboration projects involving WEAMEC’s partners and Massachussets stakeholders.