'Offshore wind leader' | New Massachusetts law boosts capacity in US Atlantic

Outgoing governor Charlie Baker signed law that scraps price caps and replaces them with incentives for supply chain investment and workforce development

Tim Ferry

Outgoing Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker on Thursday signed legislation that expands the state’s offshore wind mandate from 4GW to 5.6GW while scrapping price caps and focusing on supply chain investment and environmental and stakeholder impact mitigation.

“Since taking office in 2015, we have... made strides in making MA [Massachusetts] a leader in the offshore wind and clean energy industries,” Baker said in a tweet 11 August. “Today, I signed a climate bill into law that will further support our administration's wide-ranging efforts.”

Massachusetts currently has 3.2GW of offshore wind power under contract, including the nation's first fully permitted project, the 800MW Vineyard Wind 1.

The Act Advancing Clean Energy and Offshore Wind signed by Baker enshrines previously stated capacity expansions into law while shifting Massachusetts’ orientation away from price controls by eliminating the stipulation found in previous sector-related legislation that each procurement round come in at a lower price than the previous auction.

While this initially led to record-low prices, lack of competitive bidding in the state’s third procurement round awarded last December resulted in only two of the four companies holding leases in Massachusetts’ coastal waters submitting bids.

The lack of interest prompted Baker to call for removal of the cap to “ensure that Massachusetts retains its leading-edge position in the offshore wind policy debate”.

Orsted head of communications in North America Tory Mazzola told Recharge that through the act’s emphasis on investment, “Massachusetts is poised to further drive job creation, attract new manufacturing and utilize its clean-tech workforce to boost innovation across the green economy, while also prioritizing coexistence with marine life and ocean users.”

Orsted, which owns the uncontracted Liberty Wind project in the Massachusetts wind energy area (WEA) declined to bid into the round three tender, saying it “could not get to a competitive business case” with the price cap in place.

Iberdrola majority-owned Avangrid's Commonwealth Wind project won 1.2GW in last year’s auction at $77/MWh, below the cap set at $77.76/MWh, while Mayflower Wind, a joint venture between Shell New Energies and Ocean Winds, added 400MW at $72/MWh to their 804MW already under development.

Future procurement rounds will favour bids that include supply chain investment, mitigation of environmental and stakeholder impacts, as well as prioritising organised labour contracts and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

Former US vice president and climate leader Al Gore tweeted: “This legislation is a true game-changer. It will create jobs, lower costs, increase US competitiveness, reduce air pollution.”

The law further establishes an offshore wind industry investment programme that over the next decade will enable the Massachusetts Clean Energy Centre (MassCEC) - the state regulator of offshore wind - to authorise tax incentives.

Certified companies would use them to develop supply chain development plans, while the MassCEC would be able to make funding available through the Offshore Wind Industry Investment Trust Fund for R&D, port development and grid upgrades.

The trust fund will also support municipalities in procuring offshore wind power directly from developers.

“This legislation will accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions and provide a thorough roadmap for the installation of between 15GW to 20GW of offshore wind energy in Massachusetts by 2050,” Michael Brown, CEO of Mayflower Wind, told Recharge.

The law is actually a combination of two separate bills, one focused on offshore wind and the second on other clean energy and climate change goals, and includes stipulations pertaining to electric vehicles, natural gas consumption, as well as energy storage.

It further authorises the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to engage in interstate regional cooperation on procurement and transmission goals that are “beneficial to the commonwealth”, as stated in the law’s text.

The state spearheaded offshore wind development in the US with both the ill-fated Cape Wind project as well as Vineyard Wind 1, which is currently constructing onshore facilities and will head into offshore installation next year, it is also the home of the nation's most vibrant fishing industry, and the Massachusetts WEA straddles valuable fishing grounds.

This has led to conflict and litigation, and Vineyard Wind 1 is the subject of four lawsuits currently winding through the federal courts.

In an effort to respond to fisheries' concerns, the new law establishes a commission to ensure that fishing interests are adequately compensated for lost revenue and other impacts from offshore wind activities.

Fishing industry representatives told Recharge that the move is a step in the right direction, but would depend on how the fisheries commission was organised and staffed.

'Offshore wind leader' | New Massachusetts law boosts capacity in US Atlantic

Key GE Haliade-X offshore wind model faces US shutout under last-minute patent case judgment

'Global and local' | Iberdrola's Avangrid to run US offshore flagship Vineyard Wind 1

California raises sails on 'ambitious yet achievable' 25GW US Pacific floating wind voyage