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U.S. NEWS Monday 12 June 2017

Competition for offshore wind ramps up in Massachusetts

By PHILIP MARCELO other in 2019.
Associated Press The law also calls for gener-
BOSTON (AP) — Massachu- ating up to 1,200 addition-
setts’ bid to become the al megawatts from other
nation’s leader in offshore clean energy sources, in-
wind power is ramping up. cluding hydropower, on-
The state’s electric utili- shore wind power and solar
ties — National Grid, Ever- power by 2027.
source and Unitil — are KEY PLAYERS
slated to release by June At least three companies
30 their requirements for have expressed interest
projects seeking to devel- in the bid: Rhode Island’s
op the state’s first ocean- Deepwater Wind, Den-
based wind farm. mark’s DONG Energy and
That sets in motion an am- Vineyard Wind of New Bed-
bitious effort to put Mas- ford, Massachusetts.
sachusetts ahead of states Those three have already
like New York, New Jersey taken the key step of se-
and Maryland also seeking curing federal leases to de-
to establish their presence velop offshore wind farms
in the nascent U.S. industry. miles of the coasts of Mar-
Here’s a primer on where tha’s Vineyard and Nan-
things stand: tucket, where the state is
NEW ENERGY LAW focusing its offshore wind In this August, 2016 photo, a lift boat, right, that serves as a work platform, assembles a wind turbine
A state law passed last year efforts. off Block Island, R.I. Massachusetts is expected to start accepting proposals at the end of June,
to boost Massachusetts’ Each firm comes with its in- 2017 for large scale, offshore wind energy projects, the first such of its kind in the US. President
Trump’s opposition to wind energy specifically and renewable energy generally might play a role.
use of renewable energy dustry bonafides. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
outlines the process for Deepwater Wind opened
developing offshore wind the nation’s first offshore newables and Copenha- for submitting applications about the right size for the
power. wind farm off Block Island gen Infrastructure Partners and a May 2018 deadline wind farms.
The law calls for generating last year — a five-turbine of Denmark. for picking a winner or win- DONG Energy argues that
at least 1,600 megawatts project generating 30 MW. ROUGH DRAFT ners. larger projects generating
of power, roughly enough DONG Energy has installed The utilities — in concert But the utilities have also up to 800 megawatts pro-
electricity to power 750,000 hundreds of turbines in with state agencies — have sought input from offshore vide “efficiencies of scale”
homes annually, from off- waters off Europe and has been developing their bid wind companies and other that would lead to lower
shore wind by 2027. partnered with Eversource requirements for months. stakeholders, so it remains electricity costs for rate-
To accomplish this, the utili- on its Massachusetts ven- The most recent draft calls to be seen if those specifics payers.
ties are required to secure ture. for proposals generat- are further tweaked. Vineyard Wind believes the
long-term contracts with And Vineyard Wind is partly ing between 400 to 800 SIZE MATTERS? more practical approach is
wind farm developers in owned by Portland, Or- megawatts of power and As the utilities have draft- developing four projects of
at least two phases: a bid egon renewable energy outlined key dates, includ- ed their bid requirements, 400 megawatts each. q
request this June and an- developer Avangrid Re- ing a December deadline there’s been some debate

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