New proposals spark hope that offshore wind will pick up speed
Four wind farm developers this week filed proposals to build a new wave of towering turbines in waters south of New England, offering hope that a nascent industry can be sparked back to life after stalling out amid rising costs.
The proposals were due Wednesday in what is, to some extent, a re-do of prior wind development efforts that were shelved amid sharply rising interest rates and supply costs. To boost interest, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey decided to team up with governors in Rhode Island and Connecticut to conduct a joint solicitation, with a goal of offering larger contracts by combining forces — a move that industry leaders say will help make projects more economically feasible.
“We think it allows for projects to bid at potentially greater scale, to spread the cost among a larger base and also to have a more efficient infrastructure plan,” said Ken Kimmell, who leads offshore wind development for Avangrid, one of the bidders.
Many specific details of the bids — such as the price for power and construction costs — were not available on Wednesday. Inevitably, these bids will provide higher reimbursements for the developers, to be funded through electric utility contracts, than the earlier wave of bids did. In Massachusetts, the state Department of Energy Resources will review the bids along with the state’s three main electric utilities and select winners by Aug. 7.
So far, offshore construction has only begun on two large-scale wind farms in the region, Ørsted’s newly built South Fork Wind, which provides 130 megawatts of electricity to New York consumers on Long Island, and Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid and
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners that is going up south of Martha’s Vineyard and will provide 800 megawatts of power for Massachusetts once it’s complete. (A small wind farm, the country’s first, was built off Block Island in 2016.)
Several other proposals in waters off the Northeast have been shelved because of the costs, sowing doubts that offshore wind can quickly address the region’s demands for clean energy.
Advocates hope the latest bids represent a promising next generation of wind farms, as these European companies respond to state regulators’ efforts to reach cleanemissions goals and provide new sources of electricity to the grid as older fossil fuel-fired plants retire. In this round, Massachusetts regulators sought bids for up to 3,600 megawatts, or nearly 2 million homes; with Connecticut and Rhode Island, the contracts for the three states could total up to 6,800 megawatts.
“When you issue solicitations collaboratively, you’re going to send a market signal to developers that you mean business,” said Kelt Wilska, offshore wind director at the Environmental League of Massachusetts.
Here’s a rundown of who showed up for the three-state solicitation:
Avangrid: The subsidiary of Spanish company Iberdrola submitted a 791-megawatt proposal dubbed New England 1 to all three states. Avangrid made significant headway for permitting for the project, when it was previously proposed as Park City Wind, and says it could be built as soon as 2029 in waters about 30 miles south of Cape Cod. Avangrid also proposed New England Wind 2, formerly known as Commonwealth Wind, which could be developed if the first phase also wins. Avangrid plans to use a new port in Salem for staging and assembly, and ports in New Bedford and Bridgeport for operations and maintenance. Should New England Wind 1 win, Avangrid has an agreement to deliver 15 megawatts of power to the city of Boston. Combined, the two Avangrid projects could provide enough juice for nearly 1 million homes.
Vineyard Offshore: This venture, owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, initially partnered with Avangrid to build the first Vineyard Wind project. Now, CIP’s venture is submitting its own proposal, for 1,200 megawatts, under the name “Vineyard Wind 2.” The electricity could be taken by one state, or divided among the three. It’s enough electricity, the venture said, for up to 650,000 homes, and could come online as soon as 2031. This wind farm would be built nearly 30 miles south of Nantucket. Some construction would take place in the Salem and Providence ports, while operations and maintenance would be based in New Bedford.
SouthCoast Wind: This partnership of EDP Renewables and Engie submitted a bid, under their Ocean Winds banner, to deliver 1,200 megawatts to the three states. The venture didn’t provide much information about the bid, although previous plans included construction work in New Bedford and an operations hub in Fall River.
Ørsted: This Danish energy company submitted a 1,184-megawatt proposal, called Starboard Wind, to Connecticut and Rhode Island regulators. Starboard would provide enough power for more than 600,000 homes. Ørsted and Eversource are already building another wind farm, the 704-megawatt Revolution Wind that will serve Connecticut and Rhode Island. Onshore work has started on Revolution Wind, and offshore work is expected to begin soon. Ørsted said it didn’t submit to Massachusetts in the latest round because it liked the more flexible structures provided by the Connecticut and Rhode Island rules, but still plans construction work in Somerset, Mass., for an interconnection point.
Offshore wind advocates hope that these bids will bring some fresh momentum after a rocky stretch for the industry.
“This, coupled with the federal designation of [new] wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine two weeks ago, really presages a new day for offshore wind,” said Kate Sinding Daly of the Conservation Law Foundation. She said she recognizes that the latest round of bids will be at a higher cost than earlier rounds, but she said “offshore wind is going to be a clear winner for ratepayers in the region” once the costs of climate change and smoke
‘We think it allows for projects to ... spread the cost among a larger base’
KEN KIMMELL, Avangrid’s offshore wind development lead, on tri-state effort
stack pollution are added to the mix.
Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, offered a note of caution about the potential cost, although he said offshore wind will play an important role in ensuring the reliability of the region’s grid as well as helping it become less reliant on fossil fuels.
“It is important to remain watchful as we do not know many important details of today’s submissions, particularly with respect to cost,” Dolan said. “But hopefully today marks a turning point following a period of major market transition for the industry.”