On Tuesday, Rhode Island regulators approved a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with DWW REV I, LLC — a joint venture between Ørsted US Offshore Wind and Eversource — for the power generated from the 400 megawatt (MW) Revolution Wind offshore wind project.
Image Credit: Block Island Offshore Wind Farm
The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved the long-term PPA contract between Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted and US-based energy company Eversource with National Grid, the natural gas and electricity provider for New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The approved PPA is for 400 MW generated by from 704 MW Revolution Wind offshore wind project — which will deliver 400 MW to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut.
Revolution Wind is expected to begin local construction work as early as 2020, with offshore installation beginning in 2022 and completion and operation expected for some time in 2023. Upon completion, Revolution Wind would be Rhode Island’s second offshore wind farm — after the 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm was completed and began generating electricity in December of 2016 — and would generate enough power to supply the equivalent of more than 270,000 homes.
“We’re grateful for the RI PUC’s approval of this important project. We’re ready to get to work to deliver dramatically more offshore wind energy, jobs and energy savings to Rhode Island,” said Thomas Brostrøm, CEO of Ørsted US Offshore Wind and President of Ørsted North America. “We’re proud to be Rhode Island’s partner in a project that builds upon the success of the Block Island Wind Farm to now truly transform the state’s energy future.”
“Rhode Island is making tremendous strides in achieving the state’s ambitious clean energy goals,” said Lee Olivier, Eversource Executive Vice President for Enterprise Energy Strategy and Business Development. “With Revolution Wind set to deliver a quarter of the state’s total electric load, offshore wind is now poised to become a major component of the state’s energy mix.”
The development of Revolution Wind is a leading step in the United States’ offshore wind industry, which is seeing continued growth. Earlier this year it was revealed that New England’s transmission operator, ISO New England, currently has an interconnection queue of 20,000 MW which includes 10,000 MW of offshore wind. Ørsted and Eversource on their own jointly own leases capable of delivering over 4,000 MW of offshore wind energy for New England and New York — setting them up as the country’s market leader. Together, the two companies announced in February a partnership which will see them work together on Revolution Wind and the 130 MW South Fork offshore wind farm — which is set to deliver power to Long Island — as well as two undeveloped New England lease areas which have the potential to deliver as much as 1 gigawatt (GW).
Further proof of the growth of offshore wind in the United States was on display in December of 2018, when the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) awarded wind leases off the coast of Massachusetts expected to be worth over $405 million and which have the potential to deliver up to 4.1 GW of offshore wind.
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