Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Peter Smerdon (left) and Gordon McKillop today tighten down a section of a wind turbine tower to a barge that will transport it across the Bay.

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- Standing on a pier at the Quonset Business Park this afternoon, Governor Carcieri spoke of the future of the wind power industry in Rhode Island.

Behind him a massive mast for a wind turbine rested on a barge, ready for the trip across Narragansett Bay to Portsmouth, where it will be installed beside the town's high school. Another 80-foot-long mast waited on the pier.

"What I hope is that this is the beginning of a thriving industry," Carcieri said at the news conference.

The governor was referring to an agreement between the state and Deepwater Wind for a wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. As part of the agreement, the New Jersey company will build a manufacturing facility for turbine components in the Quonset Business Park.

Wind turbines will be assembled at the facility and shipped to the Rhode Island wind farm and, eventually, to the company's other projects on the East Coast.

The turbine in Portsmouth is being installed by the town and is being partly funded by the state.