Massachusetts, Rhode Island Select Teams To Build Off Shore Wind Projects
Two offshore wind projects located off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard moved closer to delivering a combined 1,200 MW of energy.
Vineyard Wind was selected by Massachusetts officials on May 23 to build the commonwealth’s first offshore wind farm. Expected to begin construction by 2019 and to generate 800 MW of energy by 2021, the wind farm could power 400,000 homes. Vineyard Wind beat out competing proposals from Bay State Wind, which was a partnership between the Danish firm Ørsted and Eversource, and Deepwater Wind.
In an unexpected twist, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo also announced on May 23 that Deepwater Wind has been selected to construct a 400-MW offshore wind farm called Revolution Wind.
In April, Massachusetts officials decided to delay their decision to choose a developer, in part due to the fact that the bids were unexpectedly complex. Vineyard Wind's proposal includes two 400-MW wind farms as well as 1,600 MW of expandable transmission and a plan to accelerate supply chain development.
“Today’s announcement brings the Commonwealth one step closer to achieving our administration’s goals of creating a clean, reliable and cost-effective energy future for Massachusetts residents, and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement.
In a statement, Lars Thaaning Pedersen, Vineyard Wind’s chief executive said “Vineyard Wind is proud to be selected to lead the new Massachusetts offshore wind industry into the future. Today’s announcement reflects the strong commitment to clean energy by Gov. Baker and the Massachusetts Legislature.”
Providence-based Deepwater built the nation’s first offshore wind farm off Block Island and has also proposed Rhode Island’s 90-MW South Fork Wind Farm, which would supply electricity to the Long Island Power Authority. The South Fork wind farm is anticipated to be operational in 2022 while Revolution Wind would be completed a year later.
“Rhode Island made history when we built the first offshore wind farm in the United States,” Raimondo said in a statement. “Today, we are doing it again.”
