Rhode Island approves state’s first major offshore wind energy contract

OPPORTUNITY LOST? The decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to extend an environmental review of the Vineyard Wind project puts the potential construction of the Revolution Wind wind energy farm in jeopardy. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/ERIC THAYER

PROVIDENCE – State regulators Tuesday approved what was described as a historically significant agreement in the movement away from fossil fuels, clearing the way for the eventual construction of offshore wind turbines to generate a large portion of Rhode Island’s future electricity needs.

The R.I. Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a 20-year “power purchase” agreement between National Grid Rhode Island, the state’s main electricity distributor, and DWW Rev I LLC, a joint venture of Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, for the proposed Revolution Wind project in federal waters off Rhode Island.

The agreement calls for the joint venture to supply 400 megawatts of electricity to National Grid from Revolution Wind, a proposed cluster of 85 massive wind turbines between Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and the eastern tip of Long Island, N.Y.

Project officials said the turbines will generate enough electricity to power more than 270,000 typical Rhode Island homes each year, or roughly a quarter of the state’s annual electricity consumption. Project officials also said it will save Rhode Island electricity customers millions of dollars in energy costs over the life of the project.

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Gov. Gina M. Raimondo applauded Tuesday’s action.

“Today marks another significant milestone for Rhode Island’s growing offshore wind industry,” Raimondo said after the vote. “Revolution Wind will create hundreds of jobs, invest millions in our local economy and produce enough clean energy to power half the homes in our state. Two years ago, I pledged to increase our clean energy portfolio tenfold by 2020. Today’s approval by the PUC brings us within reach of that goal.

“Rhode Island is on the front lines of climate change,” the governor added. “By supporting projects like this that reduce the cost of electricity, while at the same time reducing carbon emissions, we can continue to grow our green economy and cement the Ocean State’s status as a national leader in renewable energy.”

Once permits are issued, local construction work on Revolution Wind will start as early as next year. Installation of the offshore turbines is expected to start in 2022, with the goal of putting the wind farm into operation in 2023. Offshore “oceanographic and geophysical survey” work for the project started last year, the two companies said.

In addition to supplying Rhode Island much of its electricity needs, Revolution Wind is planned to supply Connecticut with 300 megawatts of electricity.

Orsted already operates the nation’s first offshore wind farm – the Block Island Wind Farm, just off the Rhode Island coast. The 30-megawatt, five-turbine project was originally developed by Providence-based Deepwater Wind LLC in 2016 before the much larger Orsted acquired Deepwater.

“We’re grateful for the R.I. PUC’s approval of this important project,” Thomas Bromstrom, CEO of Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and president of Orsted North America, said about Tuesday’s action.

“We’re ready to get to work to deliver dramatically more offshore wind energy, jobs and energy savings to Rhode Island,” Bromstrom added. “We’re proud to be Rhode Island’s partner in a project that builds upon the success of the Block Island Wind Farm to now truly transform the state’s energy future.”

Tuesday, the two companies said they remain committed to investing $40 million in Rhode Island for local port improvements for construction of Revolution Wind.

The companies expect to make ProvPort, situated on the Providence River south of downtown Providence, a major construction hub for Revolution Wind. The companies also are targeting Quonset Point on Narragansett Bay in North Kingstown as a long-term operations center. Overall, Revolution Wind will create 800 construction jobs and 50 permanent operations and maintenance jobs, the companies said.

State officials selected Revolution Wind last year to be Rhode Island’s first major offshore wind energy supplier through a competitive and collaborative bid review process in cooperation with Massachusetts officials.

“Rhode Island is making tremendous strides in achieving the state’s ambitious clean energy goals,” said Lee Oliver, Eversource’s executive vice president for enterprise energy strategy and business development. “With Revolution Wind set to deliver a quarter of the state’s total electric load, offshore wind is now poised to become a major component of the state’s energy mix.”

Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.

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