Dive Brief:
- Offshore wind developers Ørsted, Avangrid, SouthCoast Wind and Vineyard Offshore announced last week that they had submitted bids to a joint offshore wind solicitation from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
- The window for bidding into the regional solicitation closed March 27 at noon. The three states were the first in the U.S. to sign a memorandum of understanding on offshore wind procurement, and this was the first-ever tri-state bidding process.
- “We look forward to evaluating the submitted proposals received under this RFP over the coming months, and coordinating review of any multi-state proposals received with Massachusetts and Rhode Island,” Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes said in a release.
Dive Insight:
Dykes said that DEEP expects to announce in the third quarter of this year whether the state plans to move forward with power purchase agreements for any of the proposals it received. The solicitation sought up to 6,800 MW of offshore wind.
Vineyard Offshore — a joint venture owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables — said Wednesday that it had proposed a 1,200-MW Vineyard Wind 2 project to each of the three states individually as well as the three together.
The company said its goal is to “provide substantial investments in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, responding to the solicitation’s aim of creating cross-cutting regional economic impact.”
Ørsted said it proposed a 1,184-MW Starboard Wind project to Connecticut and Rhode Island, delivering power to both, with plans to stage the wind farm from ports in the Connecticut coastal town of New London.
Rebecca Ullman, director of external affairs for SouthCoast Wind, said the company submitted a bid to all three states for a project with 1,200 MW of capacity.
“The first ever tri-state offshore wind solicitation demonstrates an unshakable commitment to a clean energy future for all and we are proud to submit our bid,” SouthCoast Wind’s CEO Michael Brown said in a release.
In addition to the Vineyard Wind 2 proposal submitted by its subsidiary in the Vineyard Offshore joint venture, Avangrid submitted proposals for two New England Wind projects: the 791-MW New England Wind 1 and 1,080-MW New England Wind 2. New England Wind 1 would border Vineyard Wind 1, an 800-MW project which first delivered power to the grid in January and is set to be complete by the end of this year.
“Avangrid submitted a bid for New England Wind 1, a second bid for New England Wind 1 and 2 combined, and additional bids for single-state procurements in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island,” the company said in a release.
New England Wind 1 is an existing project formerly known as Park City Wind. Last year, Avangrid unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a new contract for the project with Connecticut, then it canceled it and paid the state a $16 million penalty so it could rebid. Avangrid described the New England 1 project as “exceptionally advanced and shovel-ready.”
