Even as its first planned project hangs in a morass of federal reviews and regulatory wrangling, Vineyard Wind on Friday doubled down on its plan to provide Massachusetts with clean energy from offshore wind turbines.

The company selected to fulfill the state’s first offshore wind procurement and at least one other developer, Bay State Wind, submitted bids by Friday to the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and electric distribution companies to be considered for the state’s second procurement of up to 800 megawatts of offshore wind energy.

The state and utility companies Eversource, National Grid and Unitil are seeking to procure at least 400 megawatts of power but will consider proposals from 200 megawatts up to 800 megawatts. The procurement is expected to fulfill the second half of the legislature’s 2016 authorization of 1,600 megawatts of wind power.

Friday was the deadline for interested parties to submit confidential bids to the state and utilities. Public versions of the bids are due next Friday, when the full suite of proposals is expected to become available. The state and utilities expect to select a project in November and execute a long-term contract by the end of the year.

Vineyard Wind, which already had been tapped for the first 800 MW procurement, on Friday submitted a bid for the second procurement, including a 400 MW option and two options for the development of an 800 MW project, the company said.

“Vineyard Wind is very excited to submit these proposals, which offer significant job creation and port infrastructure investment opportunity for the region, while ensuring an attractive, fixed price for electric ratepayers,” Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said. “We look forward to announcing additional details on this exciting project in the weeks ahead.”

While its first project – Vineyard Wind 1 – floats in limbo while the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management studies the wider impacts of the offshore wind industry to address concerns from fisherman about how Vineyard Wind 1’s 84 turbines would be arranged, the company said its second project would be built just south of the site of the planned first project and will incorporate fishermen’s feedback from its first project.

Bay State Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource, submitted proposals Friday for a 400 MW project and an 800 MW project. The larger project “could generate enough clean, renewable energy to provide power up to 500,000 Massachusetts homes and is expected to deliver greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to taking up to 350,000 cars off the road,” the companies said in a press release.

The companies touted the project’s maturity – it’s been in development since 2015 and has more than 50 full-time local employees – their “holistic approach” to wind farm development and their engagement local stakeholders.

“We understand the comprehensive and parallel efforts required to develop and construct a wind farm in the waters off New England, and our team has developed metrics, including integrated scheduling techniques, to measure progress and proactively anticipate all steps in the process,” the companies said.

Administration officials say they are hoping to build on the new industry’s growing supply chain and aiming to ensure job creation at the local level. The bulk of wind energy development is happening in federally leased areas south of Martha’s Vineyard, with New Bedford angling to serve as a staging center.

The state agency is expected to seek the additional 1,600 megawatts of energy generation in chunks of up to 800 megawatts, starting in 2022.

While Feds Delay Review, Vineyard Wind Doubles Down on MA

by State House News Service time to read: 2 min
0