Massachusetts and Rhode Island Announce Largest Offshore Wind Selection in New England History
Selection of 2,878 megawatts from three projects will power the equivalent of 1.6 million homes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Selected projects will create thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic activity.
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Through this procurement, offshore wind will power over 1.4 million Massachusetts homes and reduce the state’s carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking one million gas-powered cars off the road. Collectively, these projects will create thousands of jobs and generate billions of economic activity.
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“Today we are proud to announce that, along with our
partners in Rhode Island, we are taking an important step towards energy
independence, cleaner air and transforming our economy. Simply put, we are
going big,” said Governor Maura Healey. “This selection is New England's
and Massachusetts’ largest offshore wind selection to date. We'll power 1.4
million more Massachusetts homes with clean, renewable energy, create thousands
of good, union jobs, and generate billions of dollars in economic activity. The
world will look to New England for the future of clean energy.”
“This historic offshore wind selection is an important
building block to our regional offshore wind industry,” said Lieutenant
Governor Kim Driscoll. “This year, we broke ground on a new offshore wind
port in Salem, expanded our terminal in New Bedford, invested in job training
and academic programs and won $389 million in federal funds for transmission.
Like any new industry, offshore wind has faced headwinds, but our coalition of
states is rising to meet the challenges and seize the tremendous economic,
climate, and energy opportunities on the other side.”
"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," said Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee.
“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. Together with Massachusetts, we are setting a
precedent for regional collaboration in clean energy and advancing a
sustainable, resilient future."
“Today New England is showing continued leadership on
seizing offshore wind opportunities, as part of nationwide clean energy
progress that is surging under the Biden-Harris Administration,” said White
House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “Just yesterday, the United
States surpassed fifteen gigawatts of offshore wind projects approved – all
under the Biden-Harris Administration – and today’s step forward by New England
will help create even more good-paying jobs and local economic benefits as we
strengthen the power grid with clean American energy. We will continue
harnessing tools from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to enable
this progress, including federal funding awarded last month for New England
grid upgrades, to support the growth of a new American industry that is
activating factories, ports, and shipyards across the
nation.”
About the Projects
All three projects intend to utilize Project Labor
Agreements (PLAs), create thousands of jobs and direct investments in the
regional economy. All of New England’s purpose-built offshore wind ports in New
England – New Bedford, New London, Salem, and Providence Port – will have
tenants through 2032 as a part of this selection.
The SouthCoast Wind project expects to provide 3,915
high-paying jobs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and will invest in programs,
including through partnerships with Bristol Community College/National Offshore
Wind Institute and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, to offer training to
Massachusetts residents to work in every level of the offshore wind industry.
Construction on the project is expected to start in 2025 and is expected to
deliver power by 2030.
Avangrid’s New England Wind 1 project will create 4,400
full-time equivalent jobs. Avangrid has a PLA with the Massachusetts Building
Trades Council for onshore construction work, and the National Building Trades
Union for offshore construction. The project will provide $130 million in
upfront and lease payments to spur the development of the offshore wind
marshalling port in Salem and will locate an operations and maintenance hub in
New Bedford. The New England Wind 1 project can begin construction as early as
next year, with an expected commercial operations date in 2029.
The Vineyard Wind 2 project will generate 3,800 job-years of
employment across New England, with 80 percent in Massachusetts. The project
will also provide up to $37.5 million in directly funded initiatives to foster
a diverse, inclusive offshore wind workforce and supply chain, help address
energy burden for low- and moderate-income households, advance regional
research efforts in fisheries and the environment, and establish the region as
a global climate innovation lab. 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.
“Our region is heavily reliant on gas that comes to us from
pipelines and ships. For decades, our entire region has experienced significant
swings in prices while also worrying about reliability. Offshore wind will
bring stability to Massachusetts at a critical time,” said Massachusetts
Secretary for Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper. “Combined
with solar and hydropower, Massachusetts future resource mix promises stability
as our economy continues to grow. By going big with projects now, we will be
able to get ahead of the world in the global race for developers, vessels,
materials, and expertise.”
“Offshore wind is a critical tool in fighting climate
change,” said Massachusetts Commissioner of Energy Resources Elizabeth
Mahony. “Every year of progress we make in fostering this important clean
energy source is a step closer to ending our reliance on costly and polluting
fossil fuels. Hot summers, stormy seas, and devastating floods are hitting
communities across New England hard. We’re grateful to our partners in Rhode
Island for joining together on the solution and I’m proud of my team for
leading the state’s first direct procurement of offshore wind.”
The multistate project selection breakdown is as
follows:
|
State |
South Coast Wind |
New England Wind 1 (Avangrid) |
Vineyard Wind 2 (Vineyard Offshore) |
Total |
|
Massachusetts |
1,087 MW |
791 MW |
800 MW |
2,678 MW |
|
Rhode Island |
200 MW |
NA |
NA |
200 MW |
|
Total |
1,287 MW |
791 MW* |
800 MW* |
2,878 MW |
* Other entities may join this procurement.
Recent Advancements
Together, these three projects will accelerate the offshore
wind industry by ushering in investment in the domestic supply chain and port
infrastructure. Recent analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy found
that the offshore wind industry will achieve “liftoff” when the sector deploys
a steady stream of projects, beginning today, to help states achieve state
clean energy targets. Today’s announcement from the three states represents a
substantial contribution toward the goal of deploying the first 10 to 15 GW of
U.S. offshore wind, which will establish the key enabling infrastructure and
supply chain investment to support a long-term domestic offshore wind
industry.
The selection marks crucial progress towards Massachusetts
achieving its goals for reducing emissions from the power sector and builds on
recent regional achievements. The Commonwealth’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan
anticipates offshore wind will be the primary source of electricity in the
decarbonized energy system. This selection brings the Commonwealth 2,678 MW
closer to its statutory target to procure 5,600 MW of offshore wind by 2027.
Last month, 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. In addition,
federal regulators accepted an ISO New England proposal to implement a new,
state-driven procurement process for regionally beneficial transmission. This
approval positions the New England states to request that ISO New England issue
a competitive solicitation for proposals to address longer-term transmission
needs, such as transmission to interconnect offshore wind or other clean energy
resources, in late 2024 or early 2025. And next week, Massachusetts will host
the 45th annual New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Conference,
where the key topics of discussion will be hard-to-decarbonize sectors and
offshore wind supply chain.
In Rhode Island, the project would build upon Rhode Island’s
goal of increasing the state’s renewable energy portfolio with additional
offshore wind energy, which would increase to 630 megawatts of total offshore
wind capacity with this next offshore wind project.
“Rhode Island is happy to work together with Massachusetts
to continue our offshore wind investments and advance our state’s commitment to
a 100% renewable energy standard by 2033,” said Rhode Island Office of
Energy Resources Acting Commissioner Chris Kearns. “The selected project by
Rhode Island Energy would grow the state’s offshore wind resources, over the
long-term reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, provide support to the state’s
transition to electrification measures and provide good economic development
and job opportunities.”
Next Steps
Following this announcement, the Massachusetts Electric
Distribution Companies (EDCs) will begin contract negotiations with the
selected developers. Additionally, DOER and MassCEC will begin negotiating a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with each developer to memorialize and track
the commitments made in their bids regarding economic development,
environmental justice communities, and low-income ratepayer benefits. Contracts
resulting from this solicitation will be filed with the Department of Public
Utilities (DPU) for review and approval. When contracts are filed at the DPU,
more information about the projects and the evaluation process will be made
public, including project pricing and net benefits analysis, and economic
development commitments. DOER estimates contracts will be filed at the DPU this
winter.
