'Really Exciting': Officials Break Ground On Salem Offshore Wind Site

SALEM, MA — State and local officials, Crowley Wind Services representatives, and environmental and labor advocates were at the site of the former coal plant in Salem on Thursday for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new offshore wind energy terminal.

The terminal is set to be the hub of staging for the wind turbines that will be shipped offshore and provide renewable energy that Gov. Maura Healey said will be "critical to our state and reaching our climate goals."

"Look at the transformation," Healey said of the former coal plant. "The turbines assembled here are going to be out there (in the ocean) powering homes and businesses across Massachusetts and beyond."

Healey said the state remains "invested highly" in wind turbine power despite the recent malfunction of broken turbine blades off Cape Cod that sent debris toward the shore and closed beaches from Nantucket to Falmouth.

"We've heard a little bit about setbacks lately in this space," Healey allowed. "And we've heard people trying to knock this industry. But make no mistake about it, we are not going backward. We are going forward (in the wind energy industry) and Massachusetts is going to lead.

"We're going to figure out and get to the bottom of what happened (on the Cape). We're going to deal with that. But let's be clear about this — we are invested highly in this industry."

Lt. Gov. and former Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, who led municipal efforts to bring Crowley to the Witch City before resigning to run for statewide office in 2022, said the wind terminal is the evolution of a property with a complicated history in the city dating back to the 1950s.

"When the (coal) power plant came to Salem it brought jobs," she said on Friday. "It brought pollution too, even if folks didn't know it at the time.

"I can't think of a better place to be the next epicenter of Massachusetts' clean energy industry. (Thursday) was a beautiful day to break ground on the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal."

Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said the city's legacy is "a legacy of the sea" and that being home to one of the primary launch sites of the wind energy industry will be part of the next chapter of that legacy.

"The climate crisis is here," Pangallo said. "We know the sea can sink us. It can also save us."

In February, Salem finalized a $9 million Community Benefits Agreement between Salem and Crowley that includes nearly $4 million in education investments, $2.5 million in first responder training, equipment and support, $500,000 in initial climate action funding and $250,000 to support alternative fireworks for community celebrations.

"This is just Day 1," Driscoll said at the groundbreaking. "We actually have to build it now, and get through all of the rest of it, and have it operational. But it's really exciting."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)