Is New England the 'future of clean energy'? What to know about new MA, RI wind projects
The Bay State's next helping of offshore wind power won't be as significant as it could have been, and what was being touted as a tri-state partnership to make big advancements towards a region run on cleaner power appears to have largely fizzled.
Gov. Maura Healey's office announced Friday that Massachusetts selected a total 2,678 megawatts of offshore wind power spread across all three projects that made bids earlier this year, out of a maximum 3,600 MW sought by the state. Rhode Island simultaneously selected 200 MW from one of the projects, resulting in 2,878 MW total selected out of what was envisioned as up to 6,000 MW split between three states.
Connecticut, which was originally part of a tri-state partnership that wind advocates have long called for, was not mentioned in the announcement from Healey's office.
Massachusetts selected 1,087 MW of the 1,287 MW SouthCoast Wind project, with the remaining 200 MW going to Rhode Island. Massachusetts also chose to take the entire 791 MW New England Wind 1 project and up to 800 MW of the 1,200 MW Vineyard Wind 2 project, Healey's office said.
New England Wind 1, Vineyard Wind 2
"New England Wind 1 is the only project in the solicitation that has all federal, state, and local permits; the ability to start construction in 2025; and deliver power by 2029," a past press release from Avangrid, Inc. read back in July.
"Avangrid’s New England Wind 1 project will create 4,400 full-time equivalent jobs," the Healey-Driscoll Administration wrote.
Vineyard Wind 2 — by Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) — looks to bring "3,800 job-years of employment across New England, with 80 percent in Massachusetts," according to Healey-Driscoll.
New England Wind 2 is proposed to land at Craigville Beach, but the opposing residents there are still pressing the Barnstable Council to revisit their "side agreement" that gives New England Wind 2 the easements for the beach and route through Centerville.
"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," Healey said. "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."
Information on the prices Massachusetts ratepayers will have to pay for the power generated by the projects was not available Friday, and Healey's office said it would be made public when contracts are filed for Department of Public Utilities approval. The deadline for that is Dec. 18.
With Standard Times reports from Matthew Ferreira.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: New England offshore wind: MA, RI announce next round of projects
