Rhode Island Regulator Urges Approval of National Grid’s 400MW Offshore Wind Deal

The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources advised the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission on March 22 to approve the proposed twenty year Power Purchase Agreement between National Grid’s subsidiary Narragansett Electric Company and the 400-megawatt Revolution offshore wind project developed by Orsted, a Danish energy giant.

The contract, which details the terms and conditions by which the utility will purchase energy and renewable energy certificates from the project, was filed with the commission on February 7, 2019 in accordance with the Affordable Clean Energy Security Act. The agreement proposes a flat, fixed contract price of $98.425 per megawatt-hour or $0.098425 per kilowatt-hour (nominal) for twenty years.

In its study, the office found that the contract will reduce long-term energy costs for local ratepayers, enhance grid reliability, reduce carbon emissions, grow clean energy jobs and foster millions of dollars in new investment throughout the Rhode Island economy, generating over $1 billion in net energy, economic and environmental benefits to the state. All these gains, the office says, far exceed the proposed costs associated with the project.

The offshore wind farm, originally developed by Deepwater Wind, was acquired by Orsted in October 2018. Estimated to cost about $250 million, it will begin construction in 2020 and is slated for operation by 2023. The site was the first lease area to be competitively auctioned by the federal government in 2013 and it is located between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, spanning 256 square miles.