State opens bidding for massive wind power contracts

The Healey administration launched the state’s fourth round of bidding for offshore wind contracts, and it’s the biggest one yet. The state Department of Energy Resources released a request for proposals on Tuesday that invites bids to provide up to 3,600 megawatts of offshore wind power to the state’s three investor-owned electric utilities. That equals more than 25 percent of the state’s annual electricity demand. Energy officials in Governor Maura Healey’s administration have been urged by industry leaders to essentially “go big” with this round of solicitation. That’s in part because states such as New York and New Jersey have surpassed Massachusetts with much larger offshore wind solicitations, even though Massachusetts was the first state to line up contracts for a major offshore wind farm. The state is also reacting to issues that arose after the third round of bidding, in which Avangrid won the rights to 1,200 megawatts for its Commonwealth Wind project. In that round, the investment team behind Mayflower Wind, now known as SouthCoast Wind, won contracts for 400 megawatts for its Massachusetts wind farm on top of 800 megawatts Mayflower won in round two. Avangrid has made a big deal about how those contracts are no longer viable at their original prices because of cost spikes caused in part by the Ukraine war and unexpected interest rate hikes. While Avangrid’s thirdround contracts remain the matter of a legal dispute, the Connecticut-based company has said it plans to rebid its Commonwealth Wind project in round four, presumably for a higher price. State officials are asking for bids that can range from 400 megawatts to 2,400 megawatts.