ISO-New England buys power from two proposed R.I. energy projects

New England’s grid operator last week purchased power from two Rhode Island energy projects, which bodes well for a region where resources are scant.
ISO-New England, the region’s nonprofit operator based in Holyoke, Mass., purchased a combined 491.8 megawatts of power from Invenergy LLC’s proposed power plant in Burrillville – 485 megawatts – and Deepwater Wind’s offshore windfarm project off of Block Island – 6.8 megawatts – for 2019-2020.
The region’s operator each year holds an energy capacity auction, designed to ensure the grid will have sufficient resources to meet demand three years down the road.
This year’s auction resulted in the procurement of more than 1,400 megawatts of new generation capacity, including the 491.8 megawatts from Rhode Island, which was purchased at an overall lower price compared with 2015, meaning New Englanders on average could pay less for power in the future.
“Competition was robust this [year],” said Gordon van Welie, president and CEO of ISO-NE. “The high participation in the auction demonstrates the interest in the New England marketplace and bodes well for meeting future resource adequacy requirements.”
The power purchased from Rhode Island generators could also help reduce the cost of power in a region where generation is minute.
Invenergy aims to build the state’s largest power generation project in a decade with its natural gas-powered electrical plant proposed in Burrillville.
The company says the project would add an additional 900 megawatts to the grid and told PBN last year that, if approved, the project would take about 30 months to construct and power generation could begin by 2019. The R.I. Energy Facility Siting Board will hold a public hearing regarding the project on March 31 at Burrillville High School, according to a public announcement.
Deepwater Wind’s five-turbine, 35-megawatt offshore wind project is much smaller in comparison to Burrillville, but has already received all its necessary approvals – along with a contract with the state’s largest utility National Grid PLC – and is expected to come online later this year.
The auction’s overall clearing price was 25 percent less than last year’s price, which bodes well for the region where a number of coal, oil and nuclear power plants will likely retire more than 4,200 megawatts from the grid by 2019.
“This auction procured the resources needed to keep the lights on in New England at a price lower than last year’s auction and, in fact, lower than the estimated cost of building a new power plant,” van Welie said.
At $7.03 per kilowatt-month, the total value of the capacity market in 2019-2020 will be about $3 billion, compared with an estimated $4 billion for 2018-19, according to ISO-NE.
The new generation is especially good for Greater Boston, Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island where resources “are needed most,” van Welie added.

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