UPDATE - Avangrid eyeing Massachusetts offshore wind

Avangrid Renewables now has an offshore strategy and this includes looking at opportunities in Massachusetts, which plans to solicit up to 1.6 GW of offshore wind, Avangrid Inc's (NYSE:AGR) chief executive told an earnings call on Tuesday.

The company last month won the auction for the Kitty Hawk offshore wind development area near North Carolina with a potential of about 1.5 GW. James Torgerson said that this is a long-term bet as it will be well beyond 2020 before anything occurs and that projects like this take eight to 12 years to come to fruition.

Avangrid will be looking to participate in the offshore wind market in Massachusetts, taking advantage of the experience of its majority shareholder, Spanish utility Iberdrola (BME:IBE), which currently has about 1.3 GW of offshore wind in construction and operation.

The company notes in its first-quarter earnings presentation that future auctions are expected by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in New York and Massachusetts.

Avangrid also said it will participate in the Massachusetts request for proposals (RfP) for 9.45 TWh of renewable power per year, where long-term contracts should be in place by 2022. The RfP was issued at the end March and the proposals are due in late July, with the notice of intent to bid due in early May. The company says it has a number of projects it will bid into the RfP.

Avangrid reported a 63% jump in first-quarter net profit from its renewables division.

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