BOSTON — One of the three developers vying to build wind energy installations south of Martha’s Vineyard took its first shot last week at winning a long-term contract to bring renewable power to Massachusetts.
Deepwater Wind, which currently operates an offshore wind farm off Rhode Island, announced it had answered a request for proposals (RFP) for clean energy projects with a plan to construct the “Revolution Wind” farm 12 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, with operations based in New Bedford.
Deepwater Wind, DONG Energy and Vineyard Wind each hold federal leases in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, and each plans to submit proposals for offshore wind installations by a December deadline. Deepwater is the only one of the three to answer a separate request seeking clean energy generated by a variety of sources, including solar and hydropower.
Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski described the company’s proposal, a 144-megawatt offshore wind farm paired with a 40 megawatt-hour battery storage system provided by Tesla, as “the largest combined offshore wind and energy project in the world.” Deepwater also provided bids for a larger 288-megawatt version of its farm and a smaller, 96-megawatt version.
A 2016 law required Massachusetts utilities to procure 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind and 1,200 megawatts of new hydropower, solar, wind and other renewable sources by 2027. The RFP that closed last week seeks long-term contracts for 945 megawatts of clean power, while a separate RFP due in December is soliciting 400-800 megawatts of offshore wind.
Neither DONG Energy or Vineyard Wind submitted plans for last week’s RFP, and spokespeople from both companies said their main focus is on preparing the submissions due in December.
State officials plan to post details of the RFP responses on a website hosting information about the clean energy projects, but have not yet done so. Several entrants have announced some information about their proposals in the days since the deadline.
The Halifax-based company Emera Inc. proposed to build a new 1,000-megawatt subsea transmission line that would span the 375 miles between Plymouth and Coleson Cove, New Brunswick to deliver 5.69 terawatt hours of energy from seven proposed wind farms and two hydro suppliers in Canada.
TDI-New England, the company behind the 1,000-megawatt 154-mile project dubbed New England Clean Power Link, submitted two proposals in partnership with Hydro-Quebec, Gaz Metro and Boralex that the company says would deliver roughly $20 billion in benefits to Massachusetts over 20 years.
National Grid and Citizens Energy also submitted proposals for two projects – Granite State Power Link (GSPL) and Northeast Renewable Link (NRL) – to deliver “land-based wind power and solar generation already under development from Canada and New York” to Massachusetts to reduce carbon emissions by approximately three million tons annually.
Central Maine Power said it had submitted “several proposals” to deliver energy from hydro, wind and solar, including a new 145-mile transmission line from the Canadian border to Lewiston, Maine.