Wind advocates tour England to see the future

Sep. 21—NEW LONDON — Mayor Michael Passero said it was like getting a sneak peek at what the Connecticut offshore wind industry now centered at State Pier might look like 20 years down the road.

Passero was among a contingent of wind-industry advocates who toured eight major ports in England during a week-long trip completed Sept. 15, visiting with business, education, political and industry leaders.

The Connecticut group, led by English native Tony Appleton, also included Kristin Urbach, executive director of the Connecticut Wind Collaborative, and the collaborative's board chairman Paul Lavoie, who is also the state's chief manufacturing officer, plus ThayerMahan Inc.'s director of business development Alexandra Halvordson. Mayor Joe Ganim of Bridgeport was invited but unable to attend.

Passero's trip was funded by the city out of the mayor's travel and transportation budget, costing about $2,750, according to records provided by City Hall. The Connecticut Wind Collaborative and Department of Economic and Community Development paid for Urbach and Lavoie to attend, while the others were reimbursed by their companies, according to participants.

"It gave us a chance to look ahead in time 15 to 20 years ... to see what the effects of offshore wind might be on the East Coast," said Passero, a voting member of the Connecticut Port Authority.

And what they saw was encouraging, according to all involved. Many of the English cities had been struggling former manufacturing areas before the United Kingdom decided in the early 2000s to back a major offshore wind initiative that has led to more businesses and hundreds of new jobs, they said. The result has been a huge increase in the production of zero-carbon energy in England, with much more to come.

"You get a sense how fast the industry is evolving over there," Passero, a Democrat, said Wednesday in a phone interview. "We got the flavor of how intimately different sectors are working together to move this industry forward."

Speaking Thursday during a Zoom interview, the other local representatives Urbach, Lavoie, Halvordson and Appleton gave a similar assessment.

"It's incredible to see how engaged the businesses are," Urbach said.

"Everyone in the U.S. is new to wind," added Halvordson. "That was really helpful to see the big picture and how that ecosystem functions well with maturity."

Lavoie said the trip had allowed the contingent to look at what the potential market for offshore-wind-related businesses is in New London. According to Urbach, in the city of Blyth (about the size of New London) there were 52 wind-related businesses generating some 1,000 jobs.

"The UK has a 20-year head start, and we don't have 20 years," said Lavoie, who also heads the state's green energy initiative that has the goal in 2030 of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45% from 2001 levels. "We need to be there in five years, not in 20 years."

In addition to Blyth, the local group toured the ports of Tyne and Hull, as well as the Global Underwater Hub in Newcastle and the Operations and Maintenance facility of Equinor, a leading global offshore wind developer. In Blyth, the visit included a look at the Offshore Renewables Energy Catapult innovations center and the Energy Central Learning Hub.

The group also met with people at a component assembly facility in Hartlepool who are working on the Dogger Bank Wind Farm 100 miles out in the North Sea.

Finally, the contingent concluded their trip at the Maersk Training Facility in Grimsby, which trains workers in the maritime, renewable energy, and oil and gas industries.

One of the insights gained from the trip is that it may take up to five years to develop an offshore wind farm, but the maintenance of these behemoths will go on for another four decades, requiring constant maintenance work. And beyond that, when old turbines have to be overhauled or replaced as their lifespan ends, there need to be workers and businesses near the shoreline ready to do the work.

"The demands of offshore wind far outstrips our current supply chain," said Lavoie. "It's a huge opportunity for the U.S. to be a global leader in supply chain, and why shouldn't Connecticut be part of that?"

Besides learning about supply chain needs, officials also got a first-hand look at a wide range of innovations going on in England, including robotic trench-digging machines that act like tractors on the sea floor to prepare the way for the cables required to bring electricity from wind farms to the mainland.

Passero said offshore wind is also gearing up for a time when the ships that service the industry will be able to do maintenance remotely without a crew aboard, guided by sensors (perhaps provided by Groton's ThayerMahan, which specializes in sensors for the wind and defense industries).

"New London has to compete to get the portions of the business it wants," Passero said.

More important perhaps than the insight gained from touring manufacturing and research facilities, said participants, were the human contacts made during the trip, which featured meetings with 75 different businesses.

"I had some deep conversations around how the government is supporting offshore wind and some great ideas that we can bring back here for the state to consider, but things that I can bring back for the federal government to consider as well," Lavoie said.

Passero was constantly exclaiming "We should have done this five years ago," though Lavoie said five years ago may have been too early in the process. "I've called this a once a generational opportunity, just to stand up a brand new industry in the United States of America," Lavoie added.

Appleton, an executive with the engineering firm Burns and McDonnell and a member of the wind collaborative board, said one interesting element of the trip was that the British heard new ideas from the American contingent so the learning experience was mutual. Specifically, Urbach's initiative to introduce wind industry training to students in kindergarten through 12th grade got the attention of their British audience, he said.

Passero said he is very interested into looking at bringing a youth training program for the wind industry to New London, though there are not commitments to do so. There was even a talk among the UK contingent of developing a "twinning" program connecting cities in Connecticut to like-minded ports in England.

"Both parties wanted to work together going forward," Appleton said.

Addressing concerns over the effects of wind turbines on the marine environment, the group said lessons from the North Sea have shown that microreefs that form around the installations actually have a positive effect on fishing. It's unclear, though, whether these results will translate to the East Coast of the United States, because of variations in water conditions and the more stringent requirements in America regarding preserving marine mammals, said Halvordson.

As for the future of the wind industry in New London, Passero said he came back from the trip re-energized and more excited than ever about the economic possibilities. He admitted the city is somewhat constrained by its small size and residential character, but added that it should still try to maximize the business opportunities wherever possible.

Passero said he wasn't fazed by the recent decision by Connecticut not to bid on wind-energy contracts that Gov. Ned Lamont deemed too costly and political analysts speculated was driven by political considerations as Republicans hammered Democrats over the high cost of energy in the midst of state legislative races. He also isn't worried about an announced one-year delay in Ørsted and Eversource's Revolution Wind project that will be assembled in New London.

"If we had room to build three more State Piers, they'd all be busy," Passero said.