Massachusetts, Rhode Island Award Nearly 2.9 GW Capacity in First US Multi-State Offshore Wind Auction

According to Avangrid, New England Wind 1 will create more than 4,400 full-time equivalent jobs and bring USD 3 billion of local investment, including a new marshalling port in Salem and a new offshore wind manufacturing facility in New Bedford.

If a power purchase agreement (PPA) is signed and approved, then the offshore wind farm can begin construction in 2025, with a majority of investment taking place between 2027 and 2029, and reach full commercial operation in 2029, according to the developer.

The third project selected, Vineyard Wind 2 , will deliver up to 800 MW of its 1,200 MW capacity. The offshore wind farm will be located 29 miles south of Nantucket in lease area OCS-522, held by funds managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

The project is expected to reduce carbon pollution in New England by 2.1 million tonnes per year, equivalent to taking 414,000 cars off the road, according to Vineyard Offshore.

The Salem Offshore Wind Terminal will be the staging site for the project’s wind turbine installation, and O&M will be located in New Bedford.

In October 2023, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on employing a coordinated selection of offshore wind projects through each of their respective offshore wind energy generation solicitations – the first time neighbouring US states teamed up to procure offshore wind capacity.

Massachusetts launched its fourth and largest offshore wind solicitation to date on 30 August 2023, seeking 3.6 GW of new generation capacity, and Rhode Island and Connecticut opened their offshore wind solicitations in October 2023 for 1.2 GW and 2 GW of offshore wind, respectively.

In March this year, Connecticut and Rhode Island revealed they received proposals from Avangrid Renewables, Ørsted, SouthCoast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore, while Massachusetts received bids from Avangrid Renewables, SouthCoast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore.

Last month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) selected the New England states’ Power Up New England proposal for USD 389 million in federal funding to support investments in offshore wind transmission and multi-day batter storage infrastructure.

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