Offshore Wind to Power Massachusetts Hospitals

Bay State Wind and US healthcare provider Southcoast Health have begun negotiations on a power purchase agreement under which Southcoast Health would get electricity from Bay State Wind’s proposed offshore wind farm in Massachusetts.

According to local media, the two companies will agree on the amount and cost of the electricity if Bay State Wind secures the rights to build the offshore wind farm.

Founded in 1996, Southcoast Health operates three hospitals located in Fall River and Wareham, as well as in New Bedford, where the organization is headquartered.

Bay State Wind, the partnership between Ørsted and Eversource, has so far completed eight surveys for the project located some 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard, including geophysical, geotechnical, visual, benthic and avian assessments.

The data gathered through the surveys is necessary for the project’s complete and sufficient Construction & Operations Plan, the developer said.

Bay State Wind is one of three companies to submit a bid in response to the commonwealth’s first Request for Proposals (RFP) for offshore wind energy generation in Massachusetts.

The project has recently been designated as a covered project under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), making it the first and only offshore wind project, and one of only 38 infrastructure projects nationally, to receive the FAST-41 status.

Massachusetts is committed to the goal of adding 1.6GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.