Governor Janet Mills was in attendance Monday for the groundbreaking of a 107,000 square foot cold storage facility on the Portland waterfront.

The project was made possible with a 50 year lease between the Maine Port Authority and the Maine International Cold Storage Facility.

The facility is being developed by Amber Infrastructure Group along with Treadwell Franklin Infrastructure, in collaboration with MaineDOT.

Governor Mills said the facility will help keep food production, storage and distribution local and save businesses money on transportation.

Developers say a rooftop solar array would offset about 20% of the facility’s anticipated annual energy consumption.

“This is a win for our fishermen, our local businesses, and our economy, and I am glad to get it done in a climate-friendly way,” said Governor Mills.

The $55 million construction project is expected to get underway in October and be completed in February of 2024.