Mayflower Wind Merges Massachusetts Projects, Both to Grid-Connect at Brayton Point

Mayflower Wind has merged its two projects that were selected in Massachusetts’s offshore wind solicitations into one development now known as the SouthCoast Project. The first Mayflower Wind offshore wind farm has now been decided to also connect to the grid at Brayton Point in Somerset, instead in Falmouth on Cape Cod as initially planned.

The projects that were chosen to power the state in its latest offshore wind procurement, the 405 MW Mayflower Wind and the 1,200 MW Commonwealth Wind, recently signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with three Massachusetts utilities for USD 76.7/MWh and USD 72/MWh, respectively. The PPAs are currently under review by the state’s Department of Public Utilities (DPU).

After signing the agreements with the National Grid, Eversource, and Unitil, Mayflower Wind – a joint venture between Shell and Ocean Winds – announced that it had merged its 405 MW project and the 804 MW offshore wind farm selected by the state in 2019, into one development.

“Mayflower’s wins under the 83cII and 83cIII solicitations were merged for a single delivery, as its SouthCoast Project, at its interconnection point at the site of the former coal fired power plant at Brayton Point in Somerset, MA”, the joint venture stated in a press release.

The proposal for the first, 804 MW project originally called for connecting to the grid via an interconnection in Falmouth on Cape Cod. Now, with the need to deliver the power as soon as possible, Mayflower is seeking approval to shift delivery of that 804 MW to its interconnection site at Brayton Point.

“With scarce interconnection capacity in the New England grid, getting 1200MW of contracted capacity into a secured location is a monumental achievement”, said Bob Rio, Senior Vice President at Associated Industries of MA. “Time is of the essence in addressing this issue in order to meet our greenhouse gas reduction goals”.

Mayflower Wind’s PPAs for the first project were approved by the DPU in November 2020.

In October 2021, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the start of an environmental review of the Mayflower Wind proposal which includes the development of its lease area that could accommodate an installed offshore wind capacity of at least 2 GW.

Located south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the lease area has the potential to supply 2,400 MW of low-cost clean energy to electricity customers in New England, according to the Shell-Ocean Winds joint venture.

Subject to future investment decision, once the first 1.2 GW within the SouthCoast Project are operational in the late-2020s, the offshore wind farm(s) will produce enough electricity to power nearly half a million homes annually and eliminate 13 million tonnes of greenhouse gases over the life of the project.

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