Commonwealth Wind moves forward with Mass. offshore wind agreement

Unitil

15/11/2022 16:19

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Wind said late Monday it
will move forward with a submitted but not yet approved power
purchase agreement with Massachusetts electric companies and its
1,232-megawatt offshore wind project.
    Commonwealth made its announcement after the Massachusetts
Department of Public Utilities (DPU) denied in early November
Commonwealth's motion to suspend its agreement. That motion
raised questions about the future of Commonwealth's offshore
wind project.
    Commonwealth is a unit of Avangrid Inc  AGR.N , which is
majority owned by Spanish energy company Iberdrola SA  IBE.MC .
    "Avangrid believes there is a path forward for this project,
and today made a filing ... so that we can continue to engage in
ongoing discussion with all parties on these important issues,"
Sy Oytan, senior vice president for offshore project management
for Avangrid, said in an email.
    In October, Commonwealth sought a one-month suspension of
the DPU proceedings and said the project "is no longer viable
because of recent global commodity price increases" due to "the
war in Ukraine, interest rates, supply chain constraints, and
persistent inflation."
    Mayflower Wind, which is developing another offshore wind
project off Massachusetts, supported Commonwealth's request for
a suspension, but dropped that support last week.
    Massachusetts utilities with agreements to buy power from
Commonwealth and Mayflower are units of Eversource Energy
 ES.N , National Grid PLC  NG.L  and Unitil Corp  UTL.N .
    Mayflower is owned by units of Shell PLC  SHEL.L  and Ocean
Winds. Ocean Winds is owned by units of Portuguese energy
company EDP Energias de Portugal SA's  EDP.LS  majority-owned
EDP Renováveis SA  EDPR.LS  and France's ENGIE SA  ENGIE.PA .
    Analysts at energy consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners
said, "negotiations between parties may continue despite their
recommitment to the submitted (power purchase agreements)."
    "These answers appear to reduce, but may not entirely
resolve, the weeks-long conflict between the project developers
and the DPU. ... The DPU could approve both (agreements) before
year-end," Clearview said.
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BRIEF-Iberdrola Takes Control Of Over 2,000 MW Wind Capacity In
US     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2TR0TC
BRIEF-Engie Joint Venture Ocean Winds Signs 400 MW PPA In US   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2T50FG
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))