By Christian Wade, The Center Square
On Friday, Massachusetts and Rhode Island jointly announced that they plan to procure a total of 2,678 megawatts of offshore wind power spread across all three projects that submitted bids earlier this year, which, when completed, will be capable of providing enough electricity to power more than 1.4 million homes, when the wind is blowing.
Under the plan, Massachusetts has selected 1,087 MW of the 1,287 MW SouthCoast Wind project, with the remaining 200 MW going to Rhode Island. Massachusetts also selected New England Wind 1, a 719 MW project, and seeks up to 800 MW of wind power from the Vineyard Wind 2 project, officials said.
Details of the contracts, such as the price tag and how much of those costs would be passed along to energy consumers, weren’t disclosed. The projects are also subject to negotiations between utilities and the developers.
The joint procurement is part of a broader regional strategy along the East Coast to address energy and climate issues rather than a state-by-state approach. Some states, like New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, have struggled to go it alone on offshore wind and have ended up scraping projects.
Related offshore energy news:
Offshore wind approved in Maryland
Concerns over Oregon offshore wind auction
‘UK eyes ditching offshore wind target’
If you like this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for a full month.
