Big turnout expected in New England offshore wind power auction

Avangrid

27/03/2024 10:00

By Scott DiSavino and Laila Kearney
       March 27 (Reuters) - Several offshore wind developers
are on track to bid in the combined
Connecticut-Massachusetts-Rhode Island offshore wind
solicitation on Wednesday, including units of European energy
firms Iberdrola  IBE.MC , Engie  ENGIE.PA  and Orsted
 ORSTED.CO .
    The U.S. offshore wind industry is booming so far in 2024,
with several projects in various stages of development and
construction, after a disastrous last year that saw developers
cancel contracts and take roughly $9.1 billion in write-offs and
impairments.
    So far, Avangrid  AGR.N  and Copenhagen Infrastructure
Partners' Vineyard Offshore confirmed to Reuters that they
planned to bid in the tri-state auction for offshore wind, which
is expected to play a critical role in U.S. plans to decarbonize
the power grid and combat climate change.
    After contracts to sell offshore wind power to utilities in
Massachusetts and Connecticut were scrapped due to rising costs
from higher interest rates and supply chain problems,
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island agreed in October
2023 to jointly pursue offshore wind to help get more projects
built.
    Some companies that canceled contracts to sell power in the
U.S. Northeast in 2023 have indicated they have projects ready
to be bid in upcoming solicitations. Those include Avangrid,
units of European energy firms BP  BP.L , EDP Energias de
Portugal  EDP.LS  and Engie.
    Other firms with projects available to bid in the tri-state
solicitation that did not cancel power sales contracts - at
least not in New England - include units of Copenhagen
Infrastructure Partners and Orsted, the world's biggest offshore
wind company.
    Although Orsted has not canceled projects in New England, it
has canceled contracts to sell power from offshore wind in New
York, New Jersey and Maryland over the past year.
    Avangrid, Orsted and Engie said they would wait to release
details of any proposals until after the deadline for bids on
Wednesday. BP did not return a request for comment.
    
    SOME PROJECTS THAT COULD BE BID
    Avangrid is a unit of Spanish energy company Iberdrola that
is developing the 804-MW Park City and 1,232-MW Commonwealth
Wind projects off Massachusetts, both of which had contracts
with New England utilities that were canceled in 2023.
    Avangrid is also building the roughly $4 billion,
806-megawatt (MW) Vineyard Wind 1 project off Massachusetts in a
joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The
companies expect to complete Vineyard Wind 1 later this year. It
produced first power in January 2024.
    One megawatt of offshore wind can power roughly 500 U.S.
homes.
    Engie and EDP Renovaveis  EDPR.LS  are in a joint venture
called Ocean Winds that is developing the 2,400-MW SouthCoast
Wind project off Massachusetts.
    Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners' Vineyard Offshore unit
is developing the 2,143-MW Vineyard Northeast project off
Massachusetts.
    Orsted is developing the 2,000-MW Bay State Wind and 900-MW
Sunrise Wind residual projects off Massachusetts and Rhode
Island.
    Orsted also operates two of the four offshore wind projects
operating in the U.S. - the 29-MW Block Island off Rhode Island
and 132-MW South Fork off New York - and is building the 704-MW
Revolution project off Rhode Island.    

 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Laila Kearney in New York;
Editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))