PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is set to ramp up its supply of offshore wind power with theannouncement Friday that the state is will procure 200 megawatts of capacity from a much larger project that would send most of its electricityto Massachusetts.
The 1,278-megawatt total project, known as SouthCoast Wind, would be the largest offshore wind farm to be built so far in the Atlantic Ocean waters off Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Rhode Island would take only a small portion of the project’s power capacity, with the vast majority – 1,078 megawatts – going to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts will also get two other wind projects
As part of a regional solicitation that has been in the works for more than a year, Massachusetts also selected two other projects, New England Wind 1 and Vineyard Wind 2, that would add up to another 1,591 megawatts of offshore wind capacity to its energy portfolio. Connecticut, which also took part in the tri-state process, did not choose any proposals.
All told, the three new projects selected by the two states would provide enough power to 1.4 million homes in Massachusetts and 125,000 in Rhode Island. While both states have separately agreed to contracts in the past with offshore wind developers, the new joint procurement is the biggest in the region to date.
"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.“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.”
Offshore wind is important part of region's climate policies
The Act on Climate is a state law enacted under McKee three years ago that requires Rhode Island to drastically reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and get down to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The development of offshore wind is seen as key to meeting the Act’s goals and similar climate mandates in the other states in southern New England. As a densely-developed region with a high demand for power that is only expected to go up in coming years, there are few alternatives for the states to build out more sources of renewable energy at scale.
Policymakers say that offshore wind isthe most viable option because the waters off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts are relatively shallow and the winds are strong and steady.
Already, a swathe of Atlantic Ocean waters running southeast between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard is home to dozens of offshore wind turbines. Apart from a pair of turbines off the Virginia coast, they are the only ones so far in the nation.
But many more are planned up and down the country’s coastlines, from California to the Great Lakes to the mid-Atlantic. On Thursday, the federal government announced the latest approval, for a proposal off Maryland.
It’s the 10th offshore wind project to get the go-ahead under the Biden administration, totaling 15,000 megawatts of capacity – halfway to the president’s goal of 30,000 megawatts by the end of this decade.
Power prices to be made public once contracts are negotiated
Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut agreed last year to work together to solicit new proposals for offshore wind in a coordinated effort to lower power prices through economies of scale and boost the chances of successful bids by allowing projects to sign contracts with more than one state.
Under the partnership, Rhode Island was seeking up to 1,200 megawatts of capacity. While officials with the state Office of Energy Resources took part in the solicitation process, the final decision on how much energy to potentially buy was up to Rhode Island Energy, the state’s primary utility and the company responsible for signing power purchase agreements with offshore wind developers.
According to Rhode Island Energy, the 200-megawatt commitment is proportional to Rhode Island’s share of the total electric demand between the three states.
“We’re committed to advancing a clean energy future in Rhode Island and helping to achieve our state’s important climate goals,” Greg Cornett, president of the company, said in a statement.
Rhode Island Energy is now set to start contract negotiations with Ocean Winds, a joint venture between the companies EDP Renewables and ENGIE that’s developing SouthCoast Wind.
Only if they agree on a contract would the power price and other information be released to the public. The parties must submit any contract for approval to the state Public Utilities Commission by Dec. 13.
A third of Rhode Island's power could come from offshore wind in coming years
SouthCoast Wind would be the third offshore wind farm to send power to Rhode Island, following the Block Island Wind Farm, a five-turbine test project that in 2016 became the first offshore wind farm in America, and Revolution Wind, a 65-turbine project that is currently under construction.
Most of the foundations for the Revolution project have been installed and the first turbine went up late last week. The project is expected to come online in 2026.
While all of the Block Island project’s 30-megawatt capacity is being used by Rhode Island electric consumers, Revolution will deliver 400 megawatts of capacity to the Ocean State with the remaining 304 megawatts going to Connecticut.
By 2030, when SouthCoast Wind is expected to come into operation, more than 400,000 homes in Rhode Island could be getting their power from offshore wind, equivalent to a third of the state’s electric load.
More offshore wind procurements are expected
SouthCoast Wind is already familiar to Rhode Island and Massachusetts officials.
It was one of two offshore wind projects that pulled out of previously-negotiated power agreements in Massachusetts because their prices were no longer economic in light of increases in construction costs.
SouthCoast Wind had already begun regulatory proceedings to bring transmission cables up the Sakonnet River to a planned substation at the site of the former Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset.
Michael Brown, CEO of SouthCoast Wind, said in a statement that the developers are ready to work with state agencies “along with the business, community, labor and environmental sectors to build a new and just energy future.”
While the project hit some bumps along the way in its previous dealings with Rhode Island regulators, Chris Kearns, acting commissioner of the state Office of Energy Resources, said the state would work closely with the developers to ensure things go smoothly now.
He also said in an interview that the power from SouthCoast Wind isn’t planned to be the final procurement of offshore wind by Rhode Island and said the three states plan to work together again on future solicitations.
“It's important to note that this is not the end of Rhode Island’s offshore wind procurement effort,” Kearns said. “We are committed to additional offshore wind capacity.”
