Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

And so it begins……..Yesterday, Massachusetts Electric Distribution companies, in coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, issued an RFP for Long-Term Contracts for Offshore Wind Energy Projects.   The RFP, which represents the largest competitive solicitation for offshore wind in the United States, requires a bid of 400 MW and provides the option of submitting alternate bids between 200-800 MW.  Bids are due December 20, 2017.  Selection of projects for negotiations is April 23, 2018 and submittal of PPA contracts for DPU approval is July 31, 2018.

Additionally, MassCEC has released the first phase of the Massachusetts Offshore Wind Ports and Infrastructure Assessment in partnership with the Apex-Ramboll Institutes team.  While the offshore wind developers have committed to utilize the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as the primary staging area for their projects, the industry has also stated a need for additional waterfront locations for O&M bases, staging locations for foundations, and sites to manufacture offshore wind components.  The Assessment is intended to light the way for industry looking to locate in Massachusetts by providing detailed information on 18 waterfront sites throughout Massachusetts that could accommodate offshore wind activities.  This first phase is a set of existing conditions reports for each property, providing current ownership, environmental, navigational and infrastructure information.  The final phase, which will be completed later this summer, will include detailed engineering analysis of each site and what industry investment would be required to accommodate various offshore wind activities.  Information on the Assessment, as well as the existing conditions reports, can be foundhttp://www.masscec.com/massachusetts-offshore-wind-ports-infrastructure-assessment.

Finally, MassCEC is working with the AWS Truepower to collect hub-height wind data with a WINDCUBE Lidar installed on WHOI’s Air-Sea Interaction Tower located south of Martha’s Vineyard.  AWS reports the average wind speed at the LIDAR from October 8, 2016 (deployment) through May 31^th, 2017 was 10.28 m/s @ 100 m MSL.  That translates to an average wind speed of 23 mph, demonstrating an excellent wind resource.

Many thanks and Happy 4^th!

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