Results of First US Multi-State Offshore Wind Solicitation Postponed as Federal Gov’t Grants USD 389 Million for Transmission Upgrades

August 7, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

The US states that launched the country’s first multi-state offshore wind solicitation last year have pushed back their bid selection deadline(s) by one month. The move comes after the US Department of Energy (DOE) granted funding to New England states for investment into regional electric infrastructure, including transmission system upgrades to connect offshore wind energy to the New England grid.

Commenting on the federal grant and the deadline postponement, Sam Salustro, vice president of strategic communication at Oceantic Network, said that transmission upgrades were a critical component to building out a resilient and sustainable offshore wind network across the Northeast.

“New projects will require more transmission capacity, and this short extension will allow both bidders and states to take this new development into their planning process,” Sam Salustro said in a statement to offshoreWIND.biz.

In October 2023, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on employing a coordinated selection of offshore wind projects through each of their respective offshore wind energy generation solicitations – the first time neighbouring US states teamed up to procure offshore wind capacity.

Massachusetts launched its fourth and largest offshore wind solicitation to date on 30 August 2023, seeking 3.6 GW of new generation capacity, and Rhode Island and Connecticut opened their offshore wind solicitation in October 2023 for 1.2 GW and 2 GW of offshore wind, respectively.

In March this year, Connecticut and Rhode Island revealed they received proposals from Avangrid Renewables, Ørsted, SouthCoast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore, while Massachusetts received bids from Avangrid Renewables, SouthCoast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore.

The winning proposals were planned to be selected by today, 7 August, but the deadline was postponed yesterday (6 August) as the US Department of Energy, through the second round of its competitive Grid Innovation Program, granted USD 389 million (approximately EUR 356 million) for the New England states’ Power Up New England proposal.

The proposal includes upgrades to interconnection points in Southeast Massachusetts and Southeast Connecticut to prepare the onshore transmission system for up to 4.8 GW of additional offshore wind generation capacity, and a multi-day battery energy storage system in Northern Maine to enhance grid resilience and optimize the delivery of renewable energy.

On 6 August, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the state Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) notified the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) that they were “extending the Bid Selection Date and all subsequent solicitation schedule dates by approximately 30 days.”

DOER states in the notification letter that it needs additional time to consider any impacts to the solicitation from the federal grant to New England states.

Massachusetts has moved the deadline for selecting the winning bids to 6 September and the long-term contracts would then be executed by 8 November and filed for approval by the DPU by 18 December.

Rhode Island Energy, the largest utility in Rhode Island, which is running the state offshore wind solicitation, has also amended the schedule, postponing the bid selection date to 6 September and the execution of contracts to 8 November. The utility expects the contracts will be submitted to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by 13 December.

Connecticut has also announced the US federal grant for transmission upgrades but the filings on its Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) website related to the offshore wind solicitation have not (yet) been updated with a new schedule.