New England States Defer Offshore Wind Auction Results to Review DOE Grant

The results of the first multi-state offshore wind solicitation were scheduled to be released today, August 7, but the states involved in the coordinated effort have deferred the announcement. The three-way effort seeks to coordinate proposals for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, but the selections are being delayed after the Department of Energy announced $389 million in federal funding to transform the regional transmission network.

The auction process launched in August 2023 for Massachusetts and was followed by solicitations from Rhode Island and Connecticut in October. Bidders for the first time were offered the option of submitting project proposals either for a single state or coordinated to multiple states. Massachusetts and Rhode Island were scheduled to announce their selections while Connecticut had told Reuters yesterday it might need some more time.

Massachusetts is seeking the largest portion of the solicitation. They called for up to 3.6 GW of new capacity. Rhode Island is seeking 1.2 GW and Connecticut 2 GW for a combined three-state total of up to 8.5 GW by 2030.

The Department of Energy Resources for Massachusetts and Rhode Island Energy confirmed that they would be deferring the announcement for approximately 30 days. Connecticut is also deferring without reporting a new timeline for its portion of the solicitation.

“The additional time is needed to consider any impacts to this solicitation from the recently announced federal grant to New England states through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Innovation Program (GIP) program for projects to invest in regional electric infrastructure,” Massachusetts writes in the formal notice. 

DOE announced yesterday, August 6, that it has selected a proposal called Power Up New England and will be providing federal funds for the project. The project calls for significant investments in the regional electric infrastructure including proactive upgrades to points of interconnection in Southeast Massachusetts and Southeast Connecticut. The goal is to ready the onshore transmission system for up to 4.8 GW of additional offshore wind power.

“Power Up is a big win for electric customers and continues the momentum of federal partnership and regional collaboration here in New England,” said Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “These funds will resolve one of the significant challenges of standing up the offshore wind industry here in Massachusetts.”

Indications are that the three states received strong indications from a range of projects, but they will all need to be reviewed based on the federal funding for the transmission project. Reports are Avangrid, Ørsted, SouthCoast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore all participated in the multi-state solicitation. All the companies are believed to have submitted multiple plans, except Ørsted which is believed to have not participated in the Massachusetts portion.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island have each set September 6 as the new target date for announcing selections and they are targeting November 8 for the execution of contracts. By mid-December, they expect to have final plans submitted to each state’s regulators.

The Power Up New England project also includes an innovative, multi-day battery energy storage system to be deployed in northeast Maine. It will be capable of providing up to 100 hours of electricity.

The awards are part of DOE’s $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership. New England is receiving its grants in the second round of the program that seeks to fund projects that will improve grid reliability and resilience. It focuses on the use of advanced technologies and partnerships and approaches. Georgia received a $250 million grant in October 2023 that included a focus on the grid to supply rural parts of the state. GRIP offers individual awards of up to $250 million or $1 billion for larger, more consequential projects.