Posted on September 16, 2024
Rhode Island has agreed to buy 200 megawatts of electricity from Southcoast Wind in a joint energy procurement agreement with Massachusetts. The two states announced Sept. 6 that they will buy electricity from three offshore wind companies that could power 125,000 homes in Rhode Island and 1.4 million in Massachusetts.
This is the largest offshore wind selection in New England history, and according to press releases from the Rhode Island and Massachusetts governors’ offices.
“With this project, Rhode Island is taking a significant step forward in meeting our Act on Climate goals and building a clean energy economy that benefits all Rhode Islanders,” said Gov. Dan McKee. “Together with Massachusetts, we are setting a precedent for regional collaboration in clean energy and advancing a sustainable, resilient future.”
New England Wind and Vineyard Wind 2 will supply power for Massachusetts, while Southcoast Wind will split power between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Rhode Island procured 200 MW of the project’s total 1,278 MW.
Southcoast Wind reached an agreement with the town of Portsmouth in January to run one or two transmission cables up the Sakonnet River, over Portsmouth’s Island Park and Common Fence Point areas, and across the Mount Hope Bay to a planned regional transmission facility at Somerset’s Brayton Point. The company expects construction on the project to start in 2025 and the project to deliver power by 2030.
The companies said they intend to utilize Project Labor Agreements and will create thousands of jobs and direct investments in the regional economy. According to the state government, all of New England’s purpose-built offshore wind ports in New England; New Bedford, New London, Salem, and Providence will have tenants through 2032 as a part of this selection.
The Southcoast Wind project claims it will bring nearly 4,000 high-paying jobs to Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The company said itwill invest in partnerships with Bristol Community College and Massachusetts Maritime Academy to offer training to Massachusetts residents to work in every level of the offshore wind industry.
In Rhode Island, the company says, the project would build upon the state’s goal of increasing its renewable energy portfolio, which would increase to 630 megawatts of total offshore wind capacity once Southcoast’s turbines are fully operational.
Rhode Island Energy will hold contract negotiations with Southcoast Wind. Additionally, Rhode Island Energy and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources will begin to work with Commerce Rhode Island on a memorandum of understanding with Southcoast Wind to track the various economic development commitments the company made in its bid. For now, any financial commitments Southcoast Wind has made regarding economic development are promises rather than contractual obligations.
Any contract resulting from these negotiations will be filed with the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for review and potential approval. If a contract is filed at the PUC, more information about the project and the evaluation process will be made public, including pricing and net benefits analysis. According to a press release from McKee’s office, Rhode Island Energy estimates a contract with Southcoast Wind may be filed in December.
In addition to Rhode Island’s renewable energy goals contained in the 2021 Act on Climate, the Biden administration has established federal goals for deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035.
In line with these federal goals, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the availability of its final environmental assessment of a “wind energy area” located in the Gulf of Maine, which includes eight lease areas spanning approximately one million acres of ocean along the coastlines of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
BOEM found that site assessment activities, such as conducting surveys, will not have a significant impact on the environment, but did not assess the potential impact of installing turbines. BOEM stated the impact of turbine construction would be assessed in a separate environmental review if a leaseholder submits a project proposal.
In August, the U.S. Department of Energy selected the New England states’ Power Up New England proposal for $389 million in federal funding to support investments in offshore wind transmission and multi-day battery storage infrastructure. Federal regulators also accepted an ISO New England proposal to implement a new procurement process for regionally beneficial transmission initiatives. This approval positions New England states to request that ISO New England issue a call for proposals to address regional offshore wind transmission infrastructure in late 2024 or early 2025.
