Prysmian Group: new submarine cable plant in the USA

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Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, is moving ahead with its project for a new submarine power cable plant in the United States. Prysmian Group and CDC Commercial Development Company announces the signing of the contract for the purchase by Prysmian of the site identified in Brayton Point (Massachusetts). The final acquisition of the site is subject to securing state permits for the construction of the new plant. Prysmian Group’s total investment to build the new plant will amount to around $200 million.

Brayton Point finally lands offshore wind supplier

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BRAYTON POINT in Somerset is finally getting a piece of the offshore wind industry it has been courting for years, but the industrial prize is apparently not big enough to displace the controversial scrap metal business that occupies a portion of the property and has alienated much of the town.

‘This is a drug for the climate’: A new generation of Boston companies is trying to fight global warming

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Over a decade ago, a cadre of energy companies ascended on the startup scene in Boston and elsewhere, aiming to make cleaner power more practical while heading off the emerging climate crisis. But in their quest to think big, many failed, falling prey to unworkable technology, cheap natural gas, or lower-cost competition from China.

Now, a new generation of innovators in Massachusetts has emerged, aiming their moonshot ideas at a climate crisis that has only gotten worse and made their task all the more urgent.

Vineyard Wind Announces Partnership With The City of Salem And Crowley Maritime Corporation To Transform Harbor Into Offshore Wind Port

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(SALEM, MA) – Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), today announced that the company has entered into an agreement with the City of Salem and Crowley Maritime Corporation to create a public-private partnership aimed at establishing Salem Harbor as the state’s second major offshore wind port. The agreement, part of the “Commonwealth Wind” proposal, is contingent upon the company winning an award by the state of Massachusetts, which is currently evaluating offshore wind procurement bids.

Vineyard Wind 1 Becomes the First Commercial Scale Offshore Wind Farm in the US to Achieve Financial Close

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(NEW BEDFORD, MA) – Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), today announced that the company’s first project has achieved financial close. Working with nine international and U.S. based banks, $2.3 billion of senior debt has been raised to finance the construction of the project. The milestone enables Vineyard Wind to provide a notice to proceed to its contractors in the coming days and weeks, allowing suppliers to start hiring, training and mobilizing people to prepare for both on and offshore construction. Onshore work will begin this Fall in Barnstable, with offshore work commencing in 2022. The first power from Vineyard Wind 1 will be delivered to the grid in 2023.

MADD, Anheuser-Busch and Uber Join Forces to Help End Drunk Driving – Launching a First-of-its-Kind Coalition

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The unique partnership seeks to make strides in ending alcohol-impaired driving through an ongoing campaign titled “Decide To Ride” supporting awareness and safe rides

Today marks the launch of a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind coalition aimed at bringing an end to drunk driving. Decide To Ride, founded by the country’s leading brewer and American manufacturer Anheuser-Busch, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and ridesharing platform market leader Uber, will consist of an ongoing campaign with touchpoints across multiple consumer engagements to raise awareness and provide ridesharing opportunities to prevent drunk driving. Never before has a partnership of this magnitude existed; a leading brewer, a tech ridesharing platform company, and the nation’s largest drunk driving victim services and advocacy nonprofit joining forces to stop drunk driving.

First VW ID.4 electric SUV pre-production units roll off the line at Chattanooga factory

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The first VW ID.4 electric SUV pre-production units have rolled off the assembly line at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory.

The VW ID.4 electric SUV is already available in the US market, but the units being delivered are coming from Germany in limited volume.

The electric SUV is expected to have better availability once it starts being produced in the US at VW’s Chattanooga factory in Tennessee.

The automaker is now getting closer to starting production.

Vineyard Wind developers sign deal with unions to build $2.8b project

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The joint venture behind the massive Vineyard Wind project has signed an agreement to ensure union workers will play a key role in building the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farm.

Executives from Vineyard Wind and its turbine manufacturer, General Electric, joined politicians and union leaders Friday at the state-funded New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, where much of the wind-farm construction will be staged, to celebrate their new project labor agreement with the Southeastern Massachusetts Building Trades Council. The deal with the unions is seen as another key milestone in finally launching the Vineyard Wind project, and by extension the nation’s entire offshore wind industry.

Anheuser-Busch Celebrates Early Achievement of 2025 Renewable Electricity Sustainability Goal –Domestic Portfolio Now Brewed with 100% Renewable Electricity* from Solar and Wind Power

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Anheuser-Busch announced today that its entire portfolio of domestic beer and seltzer brands – including Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA, Busch and its Brewers Collective family of craft partners – is now brewed with 100% renewable electricity* from solar and wind power.

The Anheuser-Busch Solar Farm, the brewer’s 222MWac solar project in Texas, officially comes online this month, marking the early achievement of Anheuser-Busch’s Sustainability Goal to source 100% of its purchased electricity from renewables by 2025.

“At Anheuser-Busch we dream big in everything we do, including our commitment to creating a more sustainable future for our partners, our consumers, and our communities.” said Michel Doukeris, CEO of Anheuser-Busch. “Achieving this ambitious sustainability goal four years early means that each time someone reaches for an Anheuser-Busch product, they are choosing one that contributes to a more sustainable future.”

A new vision for Boston’s waterfront — and climate resiliency

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Boston has a long history of using parks to improve the everyday lives of its residents.

The Emerald Necklace, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, was imagined as a “green ribbon” sprawl of open space providing an escape from what was then an increasingly industrial, polluted city. It was this idea of using parks as a means for public good and well-being that led to the founding of the Trustees of Reservations in 1891 by Olmsted protégé Charles Eliot.

Today, Boston’s need for open space is even greater due to the impacts of climate change compounded by continued waterfront development. Open spaces are becoming more and more rare along the waterfront, which is why we support a network of waterfront parks and look forward to working with Boston’s mayor on plans like the city’s draft plan for greater open space along the Fort Point Channel. If more open spaces are not conceived and built now, the opportunity for future generations will be lost.

Biden Administration Approves Nation’s First Major Offshore Wind Farm

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Construction on the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is expected to begin this summer, after the Biden administration gave final approval Tuesday to a project it hopes will herald a new era of wind energy across the United States.

The Vineyard Wind project calls for up to 84 turbines to be installed in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Together, they could generate about 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 400,000 homes. The administration estimates that the work will create about 3,600 jobs.

The project would dwarf the scale of the country’s two existing wind farms, off the coasts of Virginia and Rhode Island. Together, they produce just 42 megawatts of electricity.

In addition to Vineyard Wind, a dozen other offshore wind projects along the East Coast are now under federal review. The Interior Department has estimated that by the end of the decade, some 2,000 turbines could be churning in the wind along the coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina.

Vineyard Wind Receives Record of Decision for First in the Nation Commercial Scale Offshore Wind Project

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(NEW BEDFORD, MA) – Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), today received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the final major step in the federal review process for the first commercial scale offshore wind farm in the United States.  

“Today’s Record of Decision is not about the start of a single project, but the launch of a new industry,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen.  “Receiving this final major federal approval means the jobs, economic benefits and clean energy revolution associated with the Vineyard Wind 1 project can finally come to fruition.  It’s been a long road to get to this point, but ultimately, we are reaching the end of this process with the strongest possible project. I want to thank the Biden Administration, Secretaries Haaland and Raimondo and BOEM for their efforts in finalizing the review of this project.  I also want to thank Governor Baker, the Massachusetts federal delegation and State Legislature for their steadfast commitment to seeing this endeavor through to today. And of course, I want to extend my sincerest appreciation to all our supporters and stakeholders for all of their work, input and dedication.  We could not have reached this milestone without you.”  

“We are very excited and proud to be part of the birth of an incredibly important new industry the U.S. Offshore wind is a key part of America’s clean energy future, and Vineyard Wind 1 is a major step forward to the clean and connected future we envision and work toward every day,” said AVANGRID CEO Dennis V. Arriola. “We appreciate the thorough review by BOEM as well as the considerable input from stakeholders. The broad engagement from many parties throughout this process has improved the project and positioned both Vineyard Wind 1 and the broader offshore wind industry for long-term success.”

“We are very proud to have been part of developing this landmark project,” said Christian T. Skakkebæk, a Senior Partner and Co-founder of CIP.  “Vineyard Wind 1 is slated to become one of the world's largest offshore wind projects, creating significant investments and good paying jobs in the U.S. For many years we have been actively engaged in the development of the U.S. offshore wind market, and we are confident that Vineyard Wind will pave the way for a successful and growing wind industry in the country.  This market will play an important role for CIP’s renewable investments for years to come, and we look forward to being an integral part in the transition to green energy in the U.S.”

“Massachusetts should be proud that this decision launches the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project here on the Commonwealth’s shores,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “This groundbreaking project will produce affordable, renewable energy, create jobs and prove Massachusetts developed a successful model for developing offshore wind energy.  We appreciate the federal government’s partnership to grant this approval and look forward to working with Vineyard Wind to create thousands of jobs and set the Commonwealth on a path to achieve Net Zero emissions.

“Today’s approval of the Vineyard Wind offshore project is a key step toward achieving the Biden Administration’s goal of bringing 30 GW of offshore wind online by 2030, and GE is excited to support that goal by providing our Haliade-X turbines, the most powerful offshore wind turbine built to date, for this project, said John Lavelle, President & CEO, Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy.  “Today’s decision is one more reason to be optimistic about the potential of offshore wind in the US, an abundant source of clean, renewable energy that can help coastal communities address the threat of climate change and accelerate the energy transition.”

Since 2017, the Vineyard Wind 1 project has been through an unprecedented and exhaustive public review process that generated more than 30,000 public comments, more than 90% of which supported the project.  The Construction and Operations Plan (COP) was reviewed by more than two dozen federal, state, and local agencies over the course of more than three and a half years. 

The project design includes the world’s most powerful wind turbine, the GE Haliade-X, with a capacity of 13 megawatts (MW).  The larger turbine capacity has allowed the project to reduce the total number of turbines from 108 to 62 while still delivering a total capacity of 800 MW to Massachusetts ratepayers.  The turbine layout, which features consistent spacing of one nautical mile between turbines, was endorsed by the United States Coast Guard for transit, fishing and navigational safety.

“With this record of decision on Vineyard Wind on the books, the era of American offshore wind is no longer on the horizon—it’s here, now, off the coast of Massachusetts, and the answer to America’s energy future is blowing in the offshore wind,” said U.S. Senator Edward Markey.  “Vineyard Wind will be the first of many offshore wind projects to come, and we can use our Bay State know-how to show the rest of the country how to get steel in the water, zero-emission energy on the grid, and union jobs to American workers. I applaud Vineyard Wind, Massachusetts stakeholders, and the Biden administration for moving forward with this project and following through on their commitment to jobs, climate, and American innovation.” 

"Today’s Record of Decision for Vineyard Wind is great news for Massachusetts and our country,” said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. “The Vineyard Wind project will generate clean energy for Massachusetts families and businesses, create thousands of good jobs and is a bold step forward towards fighting the climate crisis. I will keep working with the Biden Administration, my delegation colleagues, local stakeholders, and Vineyard Wind to move this project forward and help make Massachusetts a leader in our clean energy future."

“What a difference today is from the last four years,” said Congressman Bill Keating, who has been the leader in Congress in support of this project. “We have worked so hard to get to this point and I applaud Vineyard Wind for maintaining their commitment to the region in the face of challenge after challenge from the prior Administration.  Today’s announcement cements the Port of New Bedford and Southeastern Massachusetts as the undisputed national leader in the offshore wind industry. This decision means we will have good, clean energy jobs coming to our shores and a new generation of economic growth that reduces our carbon footprint.”

“I am thrilled to hear about the long-awaited federal approval of the Vineyard Wind project, which will position Massachusetts to begin a new chapter of sustainable, renewable energy in an industry poised to create good jobs and energize our economy,” said Massachusetts Senate President Karen E. Spilka.  “I am grateful to Vineyard Wind for their commitment to Massachusetts, and to the Biden Administration for their swift attention to this crucial part of our sustainable energy infrastructure.  The Senate has long supported wind energy, most recently in our Next Generation climate change legislation, and we stand ready to continue that support.”

“With today’s news, Massachusetts is now able to realize the ambitious offshore wind energy goals the Legislature set in 2016,” said Speaker of the House Ronald J. Mariano. “The Vineyard Wind project will power thousands of homes while helping us attain our emissions reduction goals. It will also boost our economy, reduce electricity rates, and create thousands of clean energy jobs.  The House will continue to prioritize making Massachusetts a regional hub of the offshore wind industry, and most recently included a $10 million investment in the House budget to train the workforce that will fuel the offshore wind energy boom."

“This is a great day for our region, our state and our environment,” said State Representative Patricia Haddad.  “After years of discussion and debate, we’re now poised to finally realize the potential for job creation, economic development and a huge reduction in emissions that the offshore wind industry can deliver.  I want to thank the Biden Administration for their steadfast support for this industry and clear commitment to decarbonizing our grid.”

“More than any earlier milestone, the Biden Administration’s decision today marks the arrival of the offshore wind industry in America,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell.  “As the country’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm, the Vineyard Wind project is at the head of a line of projects that together will be a pillar of America’s clean energy future. After years of planning and key investments in infrastructure and workforce development, New Bedford is poised to lead the industry’s rollout and facilitate its successful coexistence with the commercial fishing industry.”

“This is a great day for the hard-working men and women in the building trades because with the ROD in hand, we can finally get started creating the good paying union jobs this project is going to bring to our state and region,” said Frank Callahan of the Massachusetts Building Trades.  “I want to thank the Biden Administration for their support, our state government for their belief in this industry and many people who came out to support this first of its kind project.”

In response to comments and direct engagement with neighboring communities, environmental organizations and advocates, fisheries organizations, and governmental and tribal entities, the project has incorporated significant mitigation measures, including:

Historic Protections for the North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW):

• Commitment to invest millions of dollars to develop and deploy innovative technologies and undertake scientific research to further safeguard marine mammals.  Last year, Vineyard Wind partnered with Greentown Labs to work with the startup community to innovative technologies to the forefront.  To learn more about that initiative, click here.

• Institute comprehensive monitoring protocols to ensure that construction doesn’t take place when NARWs are near the lease area.  The project will utilize acoustic monitoring technology throughout construction including in transit corridors and will employ trained protective species observers to spot NARW visually during transits and foundation installation.

• Deploy industry leading technology to dampen construction noise during installation in order to protect the NARW and all marine species.

 Substantial Fisheries Investment and Mitigation Funding:

• Agreements with the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to provide millions to compensate fishermen for potential loss of revenue and gear and to enhance their ability to fish in and around the lease area 

• Commitment to continue funding pre and post construction survey studies with both the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) to measure what impact, if any, the windfarm is having on the marine environment.  To learn more about the fisheries studies, click here.

Cultural and Historical Protections:

• Project will use an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ALDS) to ensure that nighttime lights will only operate a few hours a year when aircrafts are present

• Turbines will be painted to reduce visual impacts to historical properties 

• Funds will be allocated to conduct ethnographic studies for local Native American Tribes that will serve as the basis for submissions to the National Register of Historic Places to allow for greater recognition of tribal heritage sites. 

Vineyard Wind 1 is an 800 MW project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and will be the first commercial scale offshore wind project in the United States.  The project will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years over the life of the project, save ratepayers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million tons per year. 

Vineyard Wind will reach financial close in the second half of 2021 and begin delivering clean energy to Massachusetts in 2023.

About Vineyard Wind

Vineyard Wind LLC is an offshore wind development company that will build the first commercial scale offshore wind energy project in the U.S., to be located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is 50 percent owned by funds of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and 50 percent by Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR). For more information, visit www.vineyardwind.com.

Red Sox owners, partners plan major redevelopment around Fenway Park

Five-acre project would include offices, apartments, retail stores, and possibly a hotel

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The owners of the Red Sox are moving into the real estate development business, partnering with a prominent developer in an ambitious, long-term venture that would transform the neighborhood just outside the walls of Fenway Park.

The five-acre project would feature office space, apartment buildings, retail stores, and possibly a hotel, along with public art and green space. It would be built on four sites along Jersey, Lansdowne, and Van Ness streets, as well as Brookline Avenue.

The parcels are owned by Fenway Sports Group Real Estate — a subsidiary of the Red Sox’s parent company, Fenway Sports Group — and the D’Angelo family, owners of the sports apparel company ’47 Brand.

Emily Reichert Named One of Business Insider's 100 People Transforming Business

Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs

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Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, was recently named one of the 100 People Transforming Business by Business Insider. BI noted her leadership in Greentown Lab’s expansion to Houston, TX where a second location of the incubator is expected to open in the spring of 2021. With this location, Greentown aims to meet the excitement for climate tech amidst Houston’s transition to a clean energy economy.

Greentown Labs Announces Expansion to Houston

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North America’s largest climatetech incubator will open its second location in the energy capital of the world to accelerate the clean energy transition

Somerville, Mass., and Houston, Texas, June 16, 2020 — In a celebratory announcement with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the Greater Houston Partnership, and cleantech and energy leaders from around the region, Greentown Labs today announced its plans to open its second location in Houston, Texas. As the city’s first climatetech and cleantech-focused startup incubator, Greentown Labs Houston (Greentown Houston) will be a catalyst in driving progress toward the goals outlined in Houston’s recently announced first-ever Climate Action Plan. Greentown Houston is scheduled to open in Spring 2021.

“Opening Greentown Labs’ second location in Houston—the energy capital of the world—is the best place to broaden our impact and help accelerate the energy transition through cleantech entrepreneurship, in partnership with the nation’s fourth largest city and the world-leading energy organizations headquartered there,” said Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs. “We believe the engineering strength, talent, and assets of the energy industry in Houston can and must be redeployed toward a decarbonized future. Climate change cannot be solved from the coasts—we need all hands on deck at this time. Houston has the opportunity to be the energy transition capital of the world and we believe bringing Greentown Labs to Houston will accelerate the shift in this direction.”

Greentown Houston will serve as an on-the-ground catalyst for the energy transition in Houston—aiming to bring together civic and business leaders, entrepreneurs, students and other stakeholders who have already begun the transition and raise awareness of the opportunity for those who have yet to engage. The City of Houston, under Mayor Sylvester Turner, has shown strong leadership with the release of its Climate Action Plan and is doubling down on its efforts to lead the global energy transition. Mayor Turner co-chairs Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of almost 450 U.S. mayors demonstrating leadership on climate action.

“As the Energy Capital of the World, the City of Houston has set a strong example of how to combat climate change and lower emissions. Since 2005, the City has reduced municipal emissions by 37 percent through building efficiency upgrades, investing in renewable energy, and converting to hybrid, electric and alternative fuel vehicles. Reducing Houston’s emissions and leading a global transition is a community-wide effort and will require action from residents and the business community,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “This is why it’s more important than ever to have partners and organizations like Greentown Labs, whose mission is to solve the climate crisis through entrepreneurship and collaboration. We are proud to welcome this organization to our City and look forward to the continued partnership. The City of Houston is pleased to welcome Greentown Labs as a partner in building a more sustainable and resilient Houston.”

With the expansion into Houston, Greentown Labs aims to build a bridge between the Boston and Houston metro areas to have the best and brightest engineering and business minds in energy working together on the global climate challenge. Both cities are members of C40, a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change, and have a shared goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Greentown Labs’ home city of Somerville, MA, just outside of Boston, released Somerville Climate Forward, its first comprehensive climate change plan, in 2018 with a focus on carbon neutrality by 2050 and an equitable transition to a clean energy economy. The City of Somerville and its Mayor, Joseph Curtatone, have been enthusiastic supporters of Greentown Labs since 2013 and key partners in the incubator’s growth over the past six years.

“Somerville has been proud to be the home of Greentown Labs and to work with them to help support their growth. They have always been a strong community partner and an active participant in our climate change work,” said Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “I want to congratulate them on their expansion and congratulate the City of Houston on gaining such a great community partner. I look forward to seeing the new ideas and technology that come out of a bigger Greentown Labs.”

The Greater Houston Partnership (the Partnership), an economic development organization serving the Greater Houston region, has played a critical role in supporting Greentown Labs’ expansion efforts. As an organization dedicated to Houston’s long-term economic vitality and growth, the Partnership is an ardent champion of bolstering Houston’s leadership in meeting the world’s increasing energy needs while lowering the world’s carbon footprint.

“We are thrilled to welcome North America’s largest cleantech incubator to Houston, which comes at a time of great momentum for Houston’s innovation ecosystem and further positions the region to lead the transition to a cleaner, more efficient and more sustainable, lower carbon world,” said Bob Harvey, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Greater Houston Partnership. “As the home to major corporate energy R&D centers, corporate venture arms, and VC-backed energy startups, Houston is already leading the way in digitization, renewable forms of energy, and the development of carbon capture management technology.”

Greentown Labs’ Houston announcement comes just two years after expanding its headquarters, which added an additional 60,000 square feet to its Somerville campus, enabling its community to grow to more than 100 member companies across 100,000 square feet. Greentown Labs supports climatetech and cleantech entrepreneurs with the community, resources, and connections needed to achieve their technical and business milestones. Greentown Houston will serve the same purpose for cleantech entrepreneurs in the Greater Houston area, and at its outset will provide approximately 30,000 square feet of prototyping lab and office space for about 50 startups.

Greentown Houston is made possible by a network of supportive Founding Partners that represent a broad community of energy organizations, renewable energy experts, and organizations committed to supporting early-stage cleantech startups.

Chevron, a longtime partner of Greentown Labs, has made public commitments to help enable the energy transition and was an early advocate of Greentown Labs’ expansion to Houston.

“Chevron is a long-time champion of the Greentown Labs incubator and its work in the growth of cleantech innovation,” said Barbara Burger, President of Chevron Technology Ventures. “We are excited and all-in on this expansion to a second home in Houston, the energy capital of the world. Greentown will be an integral player in Houston’s growing innovation ecosystem and our region’s goal to lead in the energy transition by welcoming, aggregating, and networking with startups, investors, and needed resources.”

NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, brings the power of energy to more than 3.7 million customers, including 100 percent renewable power to the City of Houston. Reliant, an NRG company, is one of the largest electricity providers in Texas and delivers power to more than 2 million residents and businesses across the state.

“With a deep commitment to strengthen our communities by being an innovative pioneer, NRG and Reliant are honored to play a leadership role in bringing Greentown Labs to Houston as we work toward ensuring Houston stays the Energy Capital of the World and becomes the Energy Transition Capital of the World,” said Elizabeth Killinger, Executive Vice President at NRG Energy, Inc. and President, Reliant, and Chair of the Greater Houston Partnership’s Energy 2.0 Committee.

Shell, a Greentown Labs partner since 2013, is an active participant and thought leader in the energy transition and has announced its intentions to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.

“At Shell, we want to play our part and contribute to the global effort to tackle climate change,” said Ajay Mehta, General Manager at Shell New Energies Research and Technology. “It’s through collaborations with organizations like Greentown Labs that make our net-zero ambition achievable. We are very excited to continue our relationship with them in Houston and look forward to the future we could build together.”

BHP, a new partner to Greentown Labs, is a leading global resources organization in mining and petroleum that in 2019 announced a five-year $400M climate investment program to develop technologies to reduce emissions from its own operations and those from the use of its resources.

“We have many initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint, and throughout this process we have learned we need to leverage those outside our company and outside our industry to think of new ways to reach our goals. Greentown Labs is a proven cleantech incubator, and we believe it is the right setting to do this in,” said Michelle Thomas, Head of Petroleum Innovation at BHP. “With the right support, the right environment, and the right talent there is a lot of shared value to be created right here in Houston.”

Through their Founding Partnership, Vinson & Elkins (V&E) will serve as the go-to legal counsel and resource for the Greentown Houston cleantech startup community. Highly regarded for its stronghold in energy and other tech-related fields, V&E is the law firm of choice for a diverse roster of clean energy and technology clients.

“As recognized leaders in energy, Vinson & Elkins is proud to be on the cutting edge of renewable energy and clean technology,” said V&E partner James Garrett, who serves on Greentown Houston’s Founding Advisory Board. “Concerns about climate change and sustainability have led many of our clients to make new investments in renewables and innovative clean technologies, so it is an honor for us to be the exclusive law firm partner with Greentown Labs Houston as we continue to navigate the energy evolution.”

ENGIE North America Inc. offers a range of capabilities in the United States and Canada to help customers decarbonize, decentralize and digitalize their operations. These include comprehensive services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize energy and other resource use and expense; clean power generation; energy storage; and retail energy supply. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ENGIE North America has been a partner of Greentown Labs since 2015.

“ENGIE North America is excited to join in the launch of Greentown Houston, accelerating new possibilities in clean energy and technology to benefit the common good while creating long-term value that can be shared within Houston and beyond,” said Gwenaëlle Avice-Huet, President and CEO of ENGIE North America. “Innovation, entrepreneurship, and hard work are at the heart of ENGIE’s mission to empower vibrant, sustainable businesses and communities for generations to come.”

Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA), headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading residential solar and energy storage service provider, with customers across the U.S. and its territories. Sunnova’s goal is to be the source of clean, affordable and reliable energy, with a simple mission: to power energy independence™ so that homeowners have the freedom to live life uninterrupted®.

“As a leading residential solar and storage service provider headquartered in Houston, Sunnova is proud to be a founding member of Greentown Labs Houston as our city looks to help pioneer the new energy paradigm,” said John Berger, Chief Executive Officer. “Houston is a city rich with diversity, talent and energy innovation, and we look forward to helping our city become the new energy capital of the world.”

The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact (The AmFam Institute), a new partner to Greentown Labs, is a venture capital firm and partner of choice for exceptional entrepreneurs who are building scalable and sustainable businesses in a long-term effort to close equity gaps in America.

“We are excited to be part of the Greentown Labs community with an investment in Biobot.io and now supporting Greentown Labs in Houston,” said John McIntyre, Managing Director of the AmFam Institute Social Impact Investment Fund. “The AmFam Institute invests in startups that seek to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions, develop green infrastructure, promote mental health services and increase economic and educational opportunities in underrepresented communities.”

SCF Partners (SCF), a new partner to Greentown Labs, is headquartered in Houston and is a long-standing private equity firm focused exclusively on building energy services, technology and equipment companies. SCF is investing out of its ninth fund, having completed more than 430 energy services investments in its 31-year history. SCF’s global buyout fund is complimented by its venture capital fund, SCF Ventures, an early stage investment vehicle focused on emerging companies that develop new technologies for the energy sector.

“SCF Partners is looking forward to supporting the City of Houston and Greentown Labs to enhance our city’s standing as the energy capital of the world, and to build the investment and innovation ecosystem required to deliver clean, affordable, and reliable energy sources to supply future global economic growth,” said David Baldwin, Co-President of SCF Partners.

Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) provides strategic and financial advice to investors, management teams, boards of directors, government bodies, and other participants in the global energy ecosystem. TPH is committed to helping its clients solve the financial and technical challenges of both powering the economy and protecting the environment.

Today, TPH’s research team covers approximately 130 companies, its sales and trading team provides services to institutional energy investors globally, and its investment banking effort advises thousands of clients across multiple subsectors on transactions that shape the industry. TPH has worked with clients in upstream, midstream, infrastructure, oilfield services, refining and petrochemicals, energy technology (including renewables) in M&A transactions, activist situations, restructuring, commodity risk management, ESG strategy, and public and private capital raising.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Greentown Labs and excited to have them here in Houston. We are so pleased to be a part of helping Houston’s next wave of energy entrepreneurs,” said Maynard Holt, CEO of TPH. “Houston has a dynamic and forward-looking business community. With Greentown Labs now here, we have a terrific new partner in our efforts to build the energy industry of the future,” added Bobby Tudor, Chairman at TPH and Board Chair of the Greater Houston Partnership.

In addition to the Founding Partners listed above, Michael Skelly, Senior Advisor, Lazard Partners and renewable energy pioneer in the U.S. wind industry, and Tim Kopra, Partner, Blue Bear Capital, will join Greentown Houston’s Founding Advisory Board.

Greentown Houston is actively accepting startup members via its virtual membership offering and welcoming additional partners in advance of the facility opening in Spring 2021. To learn more about Greentown Houston, visit www.greentownlabs.com or attend the virtual press conference with Mayor Turner on June 16 at 4:00pm CT / 5:00pm ET. You can register here to attend the press conference.

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About Greentown Labs

Greentown Labs is a community of climatetech and cleantech pioneers working to design a more sustainable world. As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, Greentown Labs brings together startups, corporates, investors, politicians, and many others with a focus on scaling climate solutions. Driven by the mission of providing ground-breaking startups the resources, knowledge, connections, and equipment they need to thrive, Greentown Labs offers prototyping and wet lab space, shared office space, a machine shop, an electronics lab, software and business resources, a large network of corporate customers and investors, and more. Greentown Labs’ 100,000-square-foot campus in Somerville, MA is home to more than 100 startups and has supported more than 280 startups since the incubator’s founding in 2011. These startups have collectively created more than 6,500 direct jobs and have raised more than $850 million in funding. For more information, please visit www.greentownlabs.com or Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Greentown Labs Media Contact: 

Julia Travaglini 
VP of Marketing & Communications
julia@greentownlabs.com 
603-867-3657

Cayman Somerville
Chief of Staff
cayman@greentownlabs.com 
208-863-9599

Houston lands new clean energy incubator

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June 16, 2020 

A leading clean energy incubator is opening an office in Houston.

Somerville, Mass.-based Greentown Labs said Tuesday that its second U.S. location will capitalize on Houston's role as energy capital of the world. […]

Feds: Vineyard Wind Could Be Part Of 2,000 Turbines Off East Coast

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Vineyard Wind I, the project that could be the first major wind farm off the American coast, took an incremental step forward in the permitting process this week when federal regulators published a long-awaited study of the potential impacts of the project and the East Coast's rapidly-growing offshore wind sector.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) this week issued a supplement to its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind I project, a joint venture of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables seeking to build an 84-turbine wind farm 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. A 45-day public comment period begins Friday. […]

New jobs for a new era

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Wind farms are poised for development in federal lease areas off Massachusetts, as the U.S. continues to pivot toward renewable energy sources. An effort is afoot to ensure Vineyarders capitalize on the labor opportunities that come with these wind farms.

Through a partnership between ACE MV and Bristol Community College, the first cohort of Vineyard-based wind technicians is in the pursuit of offshore wind technician certificates. The two-year program will prepare students with the technical expertise needed to repair and maintain the electromechanical components within the nacelles atop offshore turbines.

Meanwhile, the Tisbury Marine Terminal, a facility meant to berth special vessels that will service the coming wind farms, continues to progress. Students presently studying for their certificates are now well-positioned to be the technicians those vessels convey to the wind farms for upkeep, according to Richard Andre, president of the renewable energy nonprofit Vineyard Power, Vineyard Wind’s partner on Martha’s Vineyard. Andre said the marine terminal and the certificate program will foster well-paid, year-round jobs for about 40 Islanders. And while the coming marine terminal is meant to service all coming wind farms, Andre said it will undoubtedly first provide service for Vineyard Wind 1, an 800-megawatt, 84-turbine project slated for operation in 2023. 

Suffolk/Boston Globe/WGBH Poll

Watch Now! In early May, Suffolk University, the Boston Globe and WGBH News released survey results showing strong support in Governor Baker’s handling of the crisis and the restrictions he has imposed to date.  The poll also indicates that residents will be slow to resume activities like going to the movies, attending sporting events or riding public transportation once restrictions are lifted. For those of you interested in learning more or digging a little deeper into the findings, Travaglini Scorzoni & Kiley teamed up with our friends at Energy New England to host a webinar with David Paleologos, Director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, which conducted the poll.

Volkswagen and its fabric supplier are donating 75,000 gowns and masks to New York City hospitals

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April 3, 2020
By Jessica Snouwaert

Volkswagen is collaborating with its fabric supplier, Faurecia, to start producing personal protective equipment for medical providers, the companies announced Friday.

Volkswagen worked with Faurecia to make changes to its Mexico-based manufacturing plant so it could produce masks and gowns and said it will have the capacity to make about 250,000 masks and 50,000 gowns per week.

The Volkswagen supplier's pivot in production comes at a time when coronavirus risks sending the US health care system past its breaking point as hospitals and medical centers are already experiencing shortages of protective equipment including mask and gowns.

During a news conference Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo emphasized that it is within the realm of possibility for companies to manufacture simple garments like masks and gowns.

"Volkswagen is proud to have partners like Faurecia willing to step outside their usual scope and drive something bigger," Scott Keogh, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America said in a press release. "This joint effort is putting the ingenuity of VW and our supplier network on full display, and we don't plan on stopping our response to this crisis here."

Volkswagen donated the first shipment of the Faurecia-produced masks and gowns to New York State as it battles the coronavirus with over 100,000 cases, the highest number of any state in the country, according to Microsoft's COVID-19 tracker.

The delivery includes 70,000 masks and 5,000 gowns that will be distributed to hospitals in New York, including New York City's Javits Center. The supply is expected to arrive this week.

The Javits Center was recently transformed by the US Army Corps of Engineers into a temporary hospital staffed by FEMA and Army medical personnel, the release said.

Now, the Javits Center will also receive COVID-19 patients, according to Cuomo, who said he requested the federal government convert the facility to receive COVID-19 patients.

The transition of the Javits center to receive COVID-19 patients now opens 2,500 beds in New York City, according to a tweet from Cuomo.