Donald Jessome, CEO of Transmission Developers, Inc., said in a statement distributed by the Massachusetts Clean Electricity Partnership, a group of hydropower and onshore wind generation developers: “With today’s vote, Massachusetts has taken an extraordinary step toward diversifying the Commonwealth’s energy portfolio with clean, affordable and reliable hydropower and wind resources while providing electricity customers with ongoing electricity rate predictability and affordability”.
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MA just passed the largest offshore wind commitment in the history of our country ( “Massachusetts is about to make clean energy history and jumpstart a new industry” August 2).
Entitled “An Act to Promote Energy Diversity”, the bill passed the State House 157-1 and will now go to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk for his signature. The companies must then enter into “cost-effective long-term contracts” with wind farm developers for an aggregate 1.6 GW of nameplate offshore wind capacity by 2027.
The world leader in offshore wind, DONG Energy made its first foray into North America past year by securing a lease area located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard that was designated and approved by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). “The offshore wind industry has the potential to create thousands of local jobs up and down the East Coast, and Massachusetts’ has positioned itself to be the leader in making the industry a reality”.
DONG Energy says it has committed to delivering a utility-scale wind farm with an installed capacity of up to 1,000 MW, which is enough to power over 500,000 MA homes.
Hawaii offshore wind lease areas off Oahu. This legislation, which also includes provisions for hydropower, is the first to include a carve-out for offshore wind at a scale necessary to create a viable USA market and, according to officials, is the largest-ever state commitment to offshore wind power.
While still having some reservations about various aspects, the CEC said it welcomed the manner in which the New South Wales State Government had been engaging the industry and that the sector looked forward to unleashing the good that more wind farms will bring. They could well offset the cost associated with the construction of offshore wind farms and new transmission lines needed to import hydropower from Canada.
The bill also includes provisions for new energy efficiency measures, grid modernisation investment, and increased renewable energy capacity, as well as requirements for suppliers to seek deals for hydro power. Group revenue was DKK 71bn (USD 10.6bn) in 2015. This bill marks the start of the U.S. Pipeline.
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Despite federal programs and state incentives, the USA has no commercial offshore wind farms. These lease sales have generated about $14.5 million in winning bids for more than 700,000 acres in federal waters.
