The pacesetting US offshore wind joint venture (JV) of Danish developer Orsted and New England utility Eversource behind some of the nation’s earliest projects has thrown its hat into the Rhode Island round 2 solicitation with its 884MW Revolution Wind 2 proposal.
Rhode Island’s round 2 closed at noon today (Monday). It seeks to procure between
600MW and 1GW of capacity to enable the state to reach its ambitious target of 100% clean energy by 2033 – the earliest such goal in the US.
The JV is already developing
Revolution Wind 1, which will send 400MW to Rhode Island with another 304MW to Connecticut.
“We’re ready to deliver even more good-paying jobs and affordable clean energy to the Ocean State, and we’re confident that our new proposal will advance Rhode Island’s climate goals while delivering on the promise of a sustainable economic engine rooted in thriving port facilities and powered by local union labour,” said
David Hardy, CEO Americas at Orsted. The JV said the project would power 500,000 homes in the Ocean State while stimulating some $2bn in investment, including $35m to establish a regional offshore wind logistics and operations hub at Quonset Point and the order of several crew transfer and other vessels from local shipyards.
Orsted-Eversource have already contracted for five crew transfer vessels (CTV) from Blount Boats and Senesco Marine as part of the Revolution Wind investments.
The JV has also submitted proposals into
New York's round 3 tender for its Sunrise Wind 2 project that looks to leverage acreage that failed to win capacity as Bay State Wind in Massachusetts.
Revolution Wind 1 is slated for approval by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lead regulator of energy development in federal waters the first half of the year, with construction expected to begin later this year.
Orsted-Eversource have already started construction on the nation’s second array to be fully permitted, the
132MW South Fork Wind project headed to New York’s Long Island.
The JV's 920MW Sunrise Wind array is set for full approval this year as well and have invested at least
$75m in upgrades to State Pier in New London, Connecticut, for staging capacity.
The long-term future of the relationship is unclear, however, with Eversource
currently engaged in a process that could see it divest some or all of its offshore wind project interests.
