WindASSIST (Alliance for a Seacoast Shipyard in Sustainable Transition) is a coalition of scientists and environmental advocates from Maine and New Hampshire (including the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League, NH Sierra Club, 350 NH, Portsmouth-Severodvinsk Connection, Seacoast Peace Response, NH Peace Action, and Peace Action Maine) working towards a transition of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard into a wind turbine research, fabrication, and maintenance facility.
SAPL is a key member of WindASSIST. Together we are encouraging real-world, economically viable solutions for a safer, cleaner energy future for Maine and New Hampshire.
While many people worry about the day that the Shipyard may close down forever, transitioning this uniquely equipped location and highly skilled workforce into a wind turbine facility would ensure its continued (and expanded) use – all while benefiting our economy, environment, and public safety.
Why the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard?
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) is ideally suited as a tech research, fabrication, and maintenance facility because:
- It contains significant waterfront industrial infrastructure including dry docks, heavy lift cranes, and warehouses.
- It has an existing workforce trained in marine engineering, construction, repair, and maintenance, ideal for this transition.
- It’s perfectly located for deep-water access to offshore sites in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
Retool, Adapt, Innovate
The Shipyard currently devotes huge financial resources and key waterfront real estate to the maintenance and refueling of Cold War-era submarines which are costly and often impracticable. The Department of Defense has reported that the United States has excess capacity at its military installations, meaning inefficiency, waste, and needed closures.
The Deputy Secretary of Defense said “spending resources on excess infrastructure does not make sense,” and the DOD asked Congress to authorize a round of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closures).
Instead of dwelling on and resisting the evolution of defense in our country, we should see this as an opportunity to take proactive measures. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has the distinct opportunity to serve its country in a new light, bringing in new technology and jobs for our citizens, delivering safe, renewable energy, helping the country gain a new level of independence, and generating future income. This facility absolutely has the talent, infrastructure, and location to retool, adapt, and innovate for the future.
While the Shipyard has been referred to as “excess [military] infrastructure,” its skilled talent, infrastructure, and location offer incredible potential to the state of New Hampshire and the country as a whole. The ability to pivot and retool for a smarter energy future is essential to our future economy and security.
There is Already a Precedent for Public – Private Partnerships
The US Navy already has a program in place for this very application. The Navy’s Enhanced Use Leasing Program allows the Navy to “maximize the utility and value” of their sites while providing “greater flexibility for facility use and reuse.” Other military facilities around the country are already hosting private development, including renewable energy projects, and DOD has made significant efforts to research alternative fuels and power production, to reduce its overall carbon footprint.
For more information or to get involved, please contact SAPL Executive Director Doug Bogen at [email protected]