Massachusetts is putting its money on offshore wind energy power, picking three companies eyeing waters south of the Island to produce nearly 2,700 megawatts of electricity in the coming years.
In the single largest procurement of offshore wind in the state’s history, state officials said last Friday they are pursuing purchase agreements with SouthCoast Wind, New England Wind and Vineyard Wind II.
The state plans to buy 1,087 megawatts from SouthCoast Wind, nearly 800 megawatts from New England Wind and 800 megawatts from Vineyard Wind II.
The agreements, which now have to undergo pricing negotiations before being submitted to the state Department of Public Utilities for approval, measure to about 20 per cent of the state’s overall electric demand.
Gov. Maura Healey in a press conference last week said the procurement process was an important step towards energy independence for the state.
“We’re going big,” she said.
The deals from last week revisit past offshore wind agreements that were deemed not economically viable by the companies as the world dealt with the fallout from the Covid pandemic. Several companies paid millions of dollars in fees to back out of the previous contracts in hopes of better terms.
They are also a sign that the industry isn’t slowing down after one of the pioneering projects, Vineyard Wind, had one of its turbine blades break, scattering pieces of Styrofoam and fiberglass onto beaches on the Vineyard and throughout the region.
State officials have positioned offshore wind as the cornerstone of the Massachusetts push for renewable energy sources. This week, Governor Healey, in addition to other New England governors and Eastern Canadian leaders, met in a two-day conference to discuss developing stronger offshore wind energy supply chains for the region.
By going with these large procurements, Rebecca Tepper, the secretary of the state’s office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said the state will continue to be at the forefront of the offshore wind industry.
“Offshore wind is our future and it is vital that we build that future today,” she said. “By going big now with projects, we are going to lead the nation in the global race for developers, vessels, materials and expertise.”
Exact details of the energy agreements need to be hammered out, but Governor Healey previously said the state was interested in longer-term contracts, which were flexible for developers.
That has some people concerned. The state’s attorney general was also leery of the idea.
“There are . . . serious concerns lingering over whether some of these offshore wind projects will come to fruition,” Ms. Campbell wrote in a filing when the state first raised the idea of the large-scale solicitation.
She specifically called out SouthCoast Wind and Commonwealth Wind, and suggested the state make smaller procurements, capping the size at 1,600 megawatts.
“Procuring an additional 1,600 MW in this round would allow the [state] to remain on course to reach its offshore wind goals without unduly burdening ratepayers, who already pay some of the highest electricity rates in the United States,” Ms. Campbell said in her comments last year to the state Department of Public Utilities.
In an attempt to have a stronger negotiating power, Massachusetts partnered with Rhode Island and Connecticut when the procurement process was undertaken last summer. But last week, Massachusetts was largely alone, and well below the initial hopes of securing up to 3,600 megawatts of power. Connecticut did not buy into any power, and Rhode Island only went in on 200 megawatts, compared to the 2,700 megawatts planned for Massachusetts.
Connecticut’s decision to not participate could spell trouble for Vineyard Wind II, a 1,200-megawatt project that is planning to make landfall in Connecticut. The company declined to talk about its plans for the future if Massachusetts is the only state to purchase power.
“We look forward to Connecticut’s forthcoming decision on the remainder of the procurement so that we can begin to deliver important economic and climate benefits to the region,” Vineyard Wind II’s CEO Alicia Barton said in a statement.
All three projects are planned for the area south of the Island near where Vineyard Wind and Revolution are already under construction. The projects are at least several years off, however. SouthCoast Wind and New England Wind could start construction next year; Vineyard Wind II is still being reviewed.
SouthCoast Wind was previously named Mayflower Wind and New England Wind was previously called Park City Wind.
Vineyard Wind II and SouthCoast Wind are about 30 miles from the Vineyard’s south shore and New England Wind is about 20 miles away.
The state estimates that the purchase of 2,700 megawatts would power more than 1.4 million Massachusetts homes and cut carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 1 million gas-powered cars off the road.
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