Shell, EDPR Win Massachusetts’ Second Offshore Wind Solicitation for 800 Megawatts

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources on Oct. 30 announced the selection of Mayflower Wind Energy LLC’s 804-megawatt project to negotiate contracts with the state’s electric distribution companies as part of the competitive solicitations required under 2016 legislation, which requires the state to secure 1.6 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2027. Mayflower anticipates long term prices below the original price cap of $84.23 per megawatt-hour and $3.7 billion in electricity rate reduction over the contract term. The project, a joint venture of Shell New Energies US LLC and EDPR Offshore North America LLC, is expected to come online in 2025.

With the selection of Mayflower wind, the distribution companies have reached the initial procurement target of 1,600 megawatts. The first solicitation, held last year, resulted in the selection of Vineyard Wind’s 800-megawatt project, which is expected to be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. In April, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities authorized power purchase agreements between Vineyard Wind LLC and the state’s electric distribution companies Unitil Corp., National Grid plc, and Eversource Energy for a period of 20 years. The project, located in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, is co-owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Iberdrola SA’s Avangrid Renewables.