Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced today the selection of 2,878 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind in the first coordinated procurement of its kind. As a part of the procurement, Massachusetts selected 2,678 MW in total from three projects, and Rhode Island selected 200 MW from one project. Through this procurement, offshore wind will power over 125,000 Rhode Island homes and 1.4 million Massachusetts homes.
Massachusetts selected 1,087 MW of the multistate 1,287 MW SouthCoast Wind project, with Rhode Island Energy awarding the remaining 200 MW. Massachusetts also selected the 791 MW New England Wind 1 project and up to 800 MW of the 1,260 MW Vineyard Wind 2 project.
Following this announcement, Rhode Island Energy (RIE) will begin contract negotiations with the selected developer. Additionally, RIE and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources will begin to work with Commerce Rhode Island on an MOU with the selected developer to memorialize and track the commitments made in their bid regarding economic development. Any contract resulting from this solicitation will be filed with the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for review and potential approval. If a contract is filed at the PUC, more information about the project and the evaluation process will be made public, including project pricing and net benefits analysis. RIE estimates a contract may be filed at the PUC in December.
Rhode Island Energy's Long-Term Clean Energy Procurement 