Rhode Island picks Deepwater Wind for 400 MW offshore wind

The 400-MW Revolution Wind project of Deepwater Wind was on Wednesday announced as the winner in a competitive process for offshore wind capacity off Rhode Island.

The project calls for the construction of a wind farm of up to 400 MW on a federal lease site between Montauk, New York, and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The proposal was chosen following Rhode Island's participation in a clean energy procurement process held by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and it was evaluated independently by Rhode Island state agencies.

"This new, large-scale offshore wind project will bring clean and low-cost power to Rhode Islanders and further diversify our energy resources--all while adding good-paying jobs to our growing economy," said Governor Gina M Raimondo.

Following the selection, Deepwater Wind is to start negotiations with National Grid, which will in turn submit a proposed contract to the Public Utilities Commission. The scheme will need to get federal approvals in order to proceed.

Deepwater is the developer of America's first offshore wind farm, the 30-MW Block Island off Rhode Island, which went live in December 2016. The state’s goal is to lift its clean energy resources portfolio tenfold by 2020 and have an installed capacity of 1 GW.

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