Massachusetts Starts Largest Offshore Wind Solicitation

The US State of Massachusetts and the state’s utilities have issued a Request for Proposal (RfP) to procure at least 400 MW and up to 1,600 MW of offshore wind capacity.

Bidders are allowed to offer proposals from 200 MW to up to 1600 MW, the RfP said.

This is the state’s third offshore wind RfP and could be the largest in terms of the capacity awarded.

The first two rounds saw 800 MW of offshore wind capacity awarded to the Vineyard Wind 1 project, and 804 MW of capacity awarded to the Mayflower Wind project.

In total, Massachusetts plans to have 4 GW of offshore wind capacity under development or operational by 2027.

The Massachusetts Electric Distribution companies and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources will hold a Bidders Conference in relation to the third RfP on 18 May.

The deadline for the submission of questions is 25 May.

Confidential proposals should be submitted by 16 September, and public proposals by 23 September.

The selection of projects for further negotiation should be completed by 17 December and the long-term contracts are expected to be negotiated and executed by 28 March 2022.

The long-term contracts are scheduled to be sent to the Department of Public Utilities for approval by 27 April 2022.