Massachusetts Offshore Wind Deadline Looming

Massachusetts state regulators and utilities are to decide this week which of the three proposed offshore wind projects is moving forward.

The deadline to decide on who will develop the first 800MW of the state’s offshore wind capacity is Wednesday, 23 May.

As reported earlier, Vineyard Wind and Avangrid Renewables, Bay State Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource, and Deepwater Wind are competing to develop some, if not all of the offered capacity.

The Massachusetts utilities postponed the date for the selection of projects by one month in April due to, among other reasons, receiving a large number of complex proposals which required more time to be processed.

The execution of awarded contracts is scheduled for 2 July. The contracts will be submitted for approval by the state’s Department of Public utilities on 31 July.

Massachusetts has set a goal of developing 1,600MW of offshore wind capacity by 2027.