Three new offshore wind projects south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket have been selected for contracts with utility companies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
They are New England Wind 1, SouthCoast Wind, and Vineyard Wind 2.
The nearest turbines will be located about 20 to 30 miles south of the Islands, depending on the project.
Massachusetts utilities will buy power from all three wind farms, and Rhode Island from SouthCoast Wind.
Together, the awards represent the largest-ever purchase of offshore wind power in New England. The Massachusetts portion — 2,678 megawatts — will meet about 20 percent of the state’s power demand, Gov. Maura Healey said today in Boston.
“It means that 1.4 million more homes in Massachusetts will soon be powered with clean, renewable energy,” she said. “It means thousands of jobs, good union jobs, will be created.”
Local investments by the developers include funding from SouthCoast Wind for training programs at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Bristol Community College.
The majority of on-shore construction and maintenance work will be based in New Bedford and Salem, with additional work in Providence, Rhode Island, and New London, Connecticut.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, reached by phone in his car, said he is happy with the choices.
“I'm very pleased,” he said. “I've certainly had a number of conversations along the way, with state officials, about the need to ensure that offshore wind contributes not only to the broader effort against climate change, but also creates opportunity for residents of Greater New Bedford. And this announcement reflects those values.”
The Massachusetts selections are:
- New England Wind 1, by Avangrid: Utilities will buy the full 791 megawatts of the proposal;
- SouthCoast Wind, by Ocean Winds: Utilities will buy 1,087 MW of the 1,287 MW proposal; and
- Vineyard Wind 2, by Vineyard Offshore: Utilities will buy up to 800 MW of the 1,200 MW proposal.
Rhode Island selected the balance of SouthCoast Wind, at 200 megawatts.
Asked why Massachusetts left uncertain the size of its purchase from Vineyard Wind 2, a Healey administration official said the state wanted to create as much flexibility as possible for other buyers who may be interested, including Connecticut, another state, a private entity, or a collection of colleges.
Connecticut was part of the solicitation but has not announced a purchase.
A spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said via email that the state is still evaluating bids and will announce a final decision “at a future date.”
So far, none of the states have selected Starboard Wind, by Ørsted, which bid only in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
New England Wind 1 already has federal approval and plans to land cables at Craigville Beach in Barnstable, which some residents oppose.
The price of power from the wind farms is subject to contract negotiations between the developers and utilities Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil. Pricing and other financial information has been redacted from the public versions of the bids.
Unlike in past years, the bids were allowed to index their energy prices to inflation, to help prevent the cancellation of wind projects due to escalating costs, as happened with several wind projects last year.
But a Healey administration official said today that none of the projects selected in Massachusetts have indexed their prices to inflation.
In another change from the past, the Healey administration had the final word on the choices, in consultation with the power companies and independent evaluators. The state did not have the same power in previous rounds of bidding.
Developers now begin negotiating their contracts with the utilities. Each will also negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the state Department of Energy Resources and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Those MOUs will formalize the developers’ commitments on economic development, environmental justice, and benefits for low-income customers.
Contracts are scheduled to be finalized by Nov. 8 and submitted by Dec. 18 to the Department of Public Utilities for approval.
Massachusetts plans to issue another request for wind proposals next year, and a Rhode Island official said the state is likely to work with Massachusetts again.
