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Mass., RI utilities to procure 1,200 MW of offshore wind projects

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Mass., RI utilities to procure 1,200 MW of offshore wind projects

In separate decisions May 23, Massachusetts and Rhode Island officials selected Vineyard Wind LLC and Deepwater Wind, respectively, to provide them a combined 1,200-MW from two offshore wind energy facilities.

Nearly a year after creating a joint request for proposals for up to 800 MW in offshore wind energy capacity, Massachusetts electric utilities National Grid USA, Eversource Energy and Unitil Corp. picked the Vineyard Offshore Wind Project. Construction on the project is slated to start in 2019, with commercial operation scheduled for 2021. If completed, it would become the second project of its kind in the U.S. after the Block Island Offshore Wind Project that came online in 2016.

Vineyard Wind is a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables LLC and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S. Avangrid officials have emphasized their desire to become a prime player in the emerging offshore wind industry.

"Whoever gets started first is likely going to be the foundation or one of the primary foundations for the U.S. offshore industry," Avangrid Renewables President and CEO Laura Beane said during parent company Avangrid Inc.'s fourth-quarter and year-end 2017 earnings call.

The other two bids the Massachusetts utilities considered were for the Bay State Offshore Wind project proposed by Bay State Wind LLC, a joint venture of Ørsted A/S and Eversource; and Revolution Wind Offshore, proposed by Deepwater Wind. The 400-MW version of Revolution Wind was the winning project in Rhode Island's offshore wind request for proposals. Deepwater Wind, the developer of the Block Island facility, is already well-known in the state.

"Rhode Island pioneered American offshore wind energy, and it's only fitting that the Ocean State continues to be the vanguard of this growing industry," Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said in a statement. "We are building a new industry here in Rhode Island while driving down the cost of clean energy. Revolution Wind will mean lots of jobs for Rhode Island and major investments in local infrastructure."

The Massachusetts utilities' joint request for proposals stems from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's 2016 clean energy mandate, which requires electric distribution companies to solicit 15- to 20-year contracts for 1,600 MW of offshore wind by the end of July 2027. To avoid a conflict of interest with the utilities, a third-party organization, Peregrine Energy Group, oversaw the bid evaluation process with the companies and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. In Rhode Island, the 400-MW offshore wind solicitation was part of Gov. Gina Raimondo's goal to procure 1,000 MW of clean energy by 2020. Rhode Island's request was also managed through the Massachusetts procurement process.

In both cases, power purchase contracts between the utilities and the winning offshore wind developers must still be approved by the states' respective utilities commissions.

Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the rest of the U.S. Northeast have been eyed by government agencies, domestic companies and European firms as a hot emerging market for offshore wind. An April 2018 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report found that southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island waters have the most valuable sites for development of energy resources along the East Coast, at about $110/MWh. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced on April 6 a lease sale for two areas totaling 390,000 acres in Massachusetts and a call for information from companies interested in developing wind farms off the coast of New York.