Deepwater Wind has announced that it has won the contract to build the first two US offshore wind farms, located off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Of these, the Deepwater Wind Energy Centre (DWEC) will be the largest, although the first wind farm to commence operations is likely to be the second site located off the coast of Block Island.
The contract was awarded after a competitive lease auction held by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) focusing on two areas, totalling more than 164,000 acres, in BOEM’s Wind Energy Area on the Outer Continental Shelf roughly 17 miles south of Rhode Island, between Block Island, Rhode Island, and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The largest of the two wind farms will be the Deepwater Wind Energy Center (DWEC), a utility-scale project consisting of up to 200 turbines and a regional transmission system linking Long Island, New York, to south eastern New England.
“This is an enormous step forward for the industry” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “This is the best site for offshore wind in the United States, bar none. Our Deepwater Wind Energy Center Project will produce clean power and jobs for an entire region. It’s very exciting. We commend Governors Chafee and Patrick and the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Congressional delegations for their shared commitment to advancing offshore wind development and the nation’s energy independence.”
Deepwater won the competition with a bid of $3.8 million for the two sites. The company had previously paid a $900,000 deposit to participate in the auction and the remainder of the bid amount will be paid in forthcoming months when the official lease for the sites is signed. Deepwater will also pay the federal government annual rent payments of around $500,000 beginning this year and continuing until a wind farm is fully operational on the site. An annual royalty fee will be paid to the federal government based on the value of the energy produced.
DWEC will be the largest offshore wind farm ever developed in the US as it is located in deeper ocean waters and farther from shore than any other project. It will have a capacity of up to 1,000MW and will serve multiple power markets. Economies of scale and the continuing maturity of the American offshore wind industry will mean that DWEC’s power price will be competitive with traditional fossil fuels and lower than the first generation of offshore wind farms. Construction could begin as early as 2017 with commercial operations scheduled for 2018 and the facility is expected to serve approximately 350,000 homes, displacing over 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Most of the DWEC turbines will be located 20 to 25 miles from the coast, rendering the wind farm virtually invisible to observers. No turbine is to be located any closer than 13 miles from land.
Deepwater Wind is the State of Rhode Island’s preferred developer for offshore wind following a competitive process in 2008. It also qualified for a credit on the basis of it being the only developer holding a Joint Development Agreement with a neighbouring state – Rhode Island. The company is also developing the 30MW Block Island Wind Farm, three miles off the coast of Block Island, R.I. This will be a demonstration-scale wind farm and is scheduled to be the first of the two to commence operations in 2015 with construction expected to start in 2013.
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