Vineyard Wind makes offers for offshore wind in Massachusetts

The developer of the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States is moving forward with plans for two additional projects on the Massachusetts coast.

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), announced Monday that it has submitted two proposals in response to the state’s request for proposals.

Vineyard Wind currently has 1,604 MW of offshore wind power capacity under development for Massachusetts and Connecticut with its Vineyard Wind 1 and Park City Wind projects.

The two Commonwealth Wind proposals would offer options of around 800 megawatts (MW) and 1,200 MW.

“Just one day after announcing that Vineyard Wind has financially closed the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, we are incredibly proud to submit our ‘Commonwealth Wind’ proposals,” said Lars T. Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind. “We have used all of our experience with our existing portfolio to craft an incredibly strong proposal which, if selected, will ensure that Massachusetts will benefit significantly from its pioneering status in large-scale offshore wind power in the United States.”

Vineyard Wind announced last week that it was closing a $ 2.3 billion financing, the final piece of the puzzle before starting construction on Vineyard Wind 1, which received federal approval in May. The wind farm, located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, will consist of a network of 62 wind turbines spaced 1 nautical mile apart and will generate 800 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to power more than 400,000 homes.

Construction will begin onshore in Barnstable, Mass. Later this year, and offshore work will begin in 2022. The project is expected to begin providing electricity in 2023.

Park City Wind, which is still in the planning and approval stages, is an 804 MW wind farm project slated for 23 miles off the coast of Massachusetts and connected to the Connecticut power grid.

Commonwealth Wind will be developed in an area just south of the Vineyard Wind 1 and Park City Wind projects, adhering to the 1 x 1 nautical mile spacing approved by the United States Coast Guard as the preferred layout for safety and navigation.

“We have deliberately named our proposals ‘Commonwealth Wind’ to emphasize the broad benefit of affordable energy for the Commonwealth as a whole as well as the significant economic benefits that will be provided to many parts of Massachusetts,” added Pedersen.