Cape Wind yesterday said it has signed a contract with two of the leading marine construction firms in the U.S. to build the controversial offshore wind project, which it said will be built by workers from the Maritime Trades Council of Greater Boston and New England AFL-CIO.
A joint venture by Weeks Marine of Cranford, N.J., and Manson Construction Co. of Seattle, Wash., will install the 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound with a fleet of vessels, including the R.D. MacDonald, the first special-purpose offshore wind installation vessel built in the United States.
“This project will combine the best of American maritime suppliers, engineers and constructors with the most experienced European technology providers to ensure America’s first offshore wind farm performs to world-class standards.” Cape Wind President Jim Gordon said in a statement.
Cape Wind spokesman John Rodgers said it will take up to 400 people to build the wind farm.
“Those are direct jobs,” he said. “When you include indirect and induced jobs, the total construction jobs range is 600 to 1,000.”
Rodgers said the company is still expecting to finance the $2.5 billion project by the end of this year, but he declined to say how much money Cape Wind has yet to raise. Last month, Rodgers said the promise of a $150 million federal loan guarantee keeps the project on track to begin construction as soon as early next year. But opponents still doubt the project, which has been over a decade in the planning, will ever come to fruition.
“The high cost of the project, the financing, the ongoing litigation make it far from a done deal, despite their claims,” said Audra Parker, president of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.