Bay State Wind, Vineyard Wind file bids as part of Massachusetts' 2nd RfP

Two joint ventures on Friday submitted proposals in response to Massachusetts’ second Request for Proposals (RfP) for offshore wind projects, each presenting different options in terms of capacity, as required.

Bay State Wind, an equally owned JV by Danish energy major Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) and New England utility Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES), offered to build an 800-MW offshore wind farm about 25 miles (40.2 km) off the Massachusetts South Coast and 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, where it will be only marginally visible from the shores on the clearest of days.

According to Lee Olivier, Eversource’s Executive Vice President for Enterprise Energy Strategy and Business Development, this is the “most mature, comprehensive and thorough offshore wind project available.” The scheme has been in development since 2015 and relies on two years of advanced FLiDAR wind speed data specific to the lease area, where more than 12,000 miles of geotechnical surveys have been conducted.

If built, the particular wind park will provide electricity that will be enough to supply up to 500,000 Massachusetts homes.

The firm’s proposal also includes a 400-MW option.

At the same time, Vineyard Wind LLC, the 50/50 partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables LLC, filed two proposals for an 800-MW offshore wind farm and an option for a 400-MW plant as well.

The proposed project, referred to as Vineyard Wind 2, would be built south of the JV’s 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 project, which is being delayed because of the previously announced extension of the ongoing environmental review process.

The developer’s latest announcement says that the design for Vineyard Wind 2 includes rows of turbines aligned in an east-west direction. There will be spacing of one nautical mile between turbine rows.

Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind, commented that the company anticipates announcing more details on the project in the weeks ahead.

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