EAST PROVIDENCE — The proposed partners in the development of the South Quay property in city at the shore of the Providence River announced an agreement to move forward on the project

In a press release issued Wednesday, Nov. 29, ProvPort, Waterson Terminal Services and Rhode Island Waterfront Enterprises said the organizations will endeavor a joint venture with marine terminal operator SSA Marine to create a fully operational terminal allowing ships to dock and on-load and off-load cargo at the 33-acre site.

The project will not only augment the activities at the Port of Providence location across the river/upper Narragansett Bay, but is also expected to be used support off-shore wind developments around the region.

The parties said they will match the state’s contribution of $35 million for a total investment of $70 million. A year ago, the administration of Gov. Dan McKee stated its intention to earmark its portion from the federal American Recovery Plan Act fund. The state had also pre-approved $15 million in tax credits for the project.

Phase 1 will include the following construction activities: dredging, steel bulk-heading and marine construction of a 550-foot dock, 18 acres of high-bearing capacity upland improvements, and associated utilities, lighting and security fencing.

“Nearly every morning for the last five years, I’ve sat in my office and looked across the bay at the unrealized and undeveloped South Quay knowing full well what it could mean to the State of Rhode Island and the offshore wind industry,” said Chris Waterson, president and CEO of the eponymous Waterson Terminal Services. “Our team has put in a great deal of work to get to this point and we are very pleased to have a role in this transformational project.”

In the coming months ProvPort, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and the city of East Providence will work to codify agreements to advance construction of the facility. ProvPort already has in place a revenue sharing agreement with the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island for its current operations.

“For the last few years, we have been relying informally on ProvPort and Waterson Terminal Service’s expertise to develop this project and now we have a structure in place to realize the potential and opportunity of the South Quay,” said Melissa Martin, general manager of Rhode Island Waterfront Enterprises, which purchased the man-made parcel for $4.5 million back in 2019 from the Providence and Worcester Railroad Co.

The project locally also received a boost regionally when in recent months Revolution Wind, endeavoring to construct first utility-scale offshore wind farm for use by Rhode Island and Connecticut customers, received approval for its plans from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Construction on that project is expected to begin in 2024 and become operational in 2025. Revolution Wind's plan is to generate 704s megawatt, 400 to Rhode Island and 304 to Connecticut. It claims to power more than 350,000 homes across the two states by 2030.