Vineyard Wind wins bid for 800 MW off Massachusetts

Vineyard Wind, a 50/50 partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables LLC, is the winner in Massachusetts’s solicitation for up to 800 MW of offshore wind capacity.

The company has secured the right to negotiate a contract for the construction of the huge wind park off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, the government of Massachusetts announced on Wednesday. It will then need approval from the state Department of Public Utilities (DPU).

Vineyard Wind’s proposal involves the installation of up to 106 wind turbines, of 8 MW to 10 MW each, at water depths of 37 to 49 meters (121 to 161 feet).

Deepwater Wind and a partnership between Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) and Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) also responded to the request for proposals (RfP). In a press release on Wednesday, Denmark’s Ørsted expressed its disappointment for not winning but said that the outcome of the 83C solicitation does not change its commitment to develop offshore wind projects in the US.

“Together with Eversource, we’ll continue progressing our Bay State wind project towards the next solicitations in New England and New York. Ørsted will also continue to develop our utility scale Ocean Wind project in New Jersey, and we remain engaged with our partner Dominion Energy in bringing offshore wind to Virginia.” said Martin Neubert, executive vice president and CEO of Wind Power at Ørsted.

Meanwhile, Deepwater Wind has won the right to enter into contract negotiations with the state of Rhode Island for the deployment of 400 MW of offshore wind capacity. Rhode Island and Massachusetts aim to add 1,200 MW of offshore wind to New England’s electric grid.

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