New England Offshore Wind Auction Draws Multiple Bidders

Several offshore wind developers bid in a combined Connecticut-Massachusetts-Rhode Island offshore wind solicitation on Wednesday, including units of European energy firms Iberdrola and Orsted.

The U.S. offshore wind industry is booming so far this year, with several projects in various stages of development and construction, after a disastrous 2023 of developers cancelling contracts and taking roughly $9.1 billion in write-offs and impairments on U.S. projects.

So far, Avangrid, Orsted and Vineyard Offshore have made proposals in the tri-state auction, which is expected to play a critical role in federal and state plans to decarbonize the power grid and combat climate change.

Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group, submitted multiple proposals, including the 791-megawatt (MW) New England Wind 1 and the 1,080-MW New England Wind 2. If combined, the two projects could generate enough power to supply nearly 1 million homes.

"Avangrid is ready to go," Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said in a press release, adding that construction could start on New England Wind 1 as early as next year.

The company said New England Wind 1 could achieve commercial operations in 2029.

In a separate bid, Orsted, the world's biggest offshore wind company, proposed the 1,184-megawatt Starboard Wind project, which could supply power to Connecticut and/or Rhode Island.

Vineyard Offshore said it proposed the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Vineyard Wind 2, which would sit 29 miles (46.7 kilometers) south of Nantucket in Massachusetts. The project could start in 2031.

Vineyard Offshore is held by funds managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

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 offshore wind power in the U.S. Northeast in 2023 have indicated they have projects ready to be bid in upcoming solicitations. Those include units of Avangrid, BP, EDP Energias de Portugal and Engie.

Although Orsted has not canceled projects in New England, it has dropped contracts to sell offshore wind power in New York, New Jersey and Maryland over the past year.

(Reuters - Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Laila Kearney; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Josie Kao)