Winners of a tri-state bidding process for new offshore wind contracts are expected to be announced tomorrow.
Gov. Maura Healey plans to hold a press conference on offshore wind at 11:45 a.m. at the State House.
In New England’s first regional procurement of energy from offshore wind, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut are looking to buy up to 6,800 megawatts of power between the three states.
Four bidders are in the running: Avangrid, Ocean Winds, Ørsted, and Vineyard Offshore. Ørsted submitted bids only in Rhode Island and Connecticut; the others bid in all three states.
The companies have pledged to spread their projects' economic benefits among multiple cities.
Depending on the bid, cities under consideration to host turbine installation and/or maintenance include New Bedford, Mass.; Salem, Mass.; Bridgeport, Conn.; or New London, Conn.
The projects are New England Wind 1 and 2, SouthCoast Wind, Starboard Wind, and Vineyard Wind 2.
The bidders hold federal leases on offshore wind areas that stretch from Newport to Nantucket.
New England Wind 1 and 2, owned by Avangrid, plan to land electrical cables underground at Craigville Beach and Dowses Beach, respectively — both in Barnstable.
The other bids call for cables to land at Brayton Point in Somerset or at locations in Connecticut.
The plans for Barnstable beaches have spurred local residents to form opposition groups, but the states are hungry for clean energy.
Healey says the electricity purchased by Massachusetts power companies could meet a quarter of the state’s annual demand.
