New England states tout 'historic' offshore wind plans

(The Center Square) — Two New England states are going all-in on wind power by pursuing what is being described as the "largest" offshore procurement in the region.

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.

"Today marks a historic milestone for Rhode Island and Massachusetts as we join forces to drive the largest offshore wind procurement in New England's history," Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement. "Together with Massachusetts, we are setting a precedent for regional collaboration in clean energy and advancing a sustainable, resilient future."

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.

In August, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $389 million to several New England states for improvements to the power grid that aim to significantly increase the region’s capacity for offshore wind.

The Power Up New England plan — a collaboration between Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont and several utilities — calls for expanding and upgrading the shared interconnection points for undersea cables that bring power from offshore wind turbines to the regional grid.

The Grid Innovation Program is managed through the U.S. Department of Energy’s $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program. The funding is capped at $250 million unless projects have a "significant transmission investment," as with the New England state's proposal.

In October, DOE announced nearly $3.5 billion in awards under its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program to support 58 projects in 44 states.

Outgoing President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has aggressively pursued plans by the federal government to add at least 35 gigawatts of offshore wind in the U.S. by 2030, beginning with Vineyard Wind off the southern coast of Massachusetts. He argues the plan will boost the nation's clean energy industry and create jobs.

But the latest procurement comes amid increasing turbulence in the nation’s nascent offshore wind industry. Developers are scaling back — or, in some cases, backing out of projects — citing supply chain disruptions, higher construction costs and a lack of state and federal government tax credits.

Two major offshore wind developers in Massachusetts — Commonwealth Wind and Shell and Ocean Winds North America — terminated their power purchase agreements with the state’s utilities last year, citing supply chain issues and other concerns that have made it too difficult to finance the projects.

The push for offshore wind also faces opposition from commercial fishermen and coastal conservation groups who argue that towering turbines off the Atlantic coastline will hurt marine life, fishing and tourism industries and the local economy.