Connecticut & Rhode Island's offshore wind farm just got the construction go-ahead - Electrek
Connecticut & Rhode Island's offshore wind farm just got the construction go-ahead
Revolution Wind, Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm, can begin offshore construction in 2024.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved Revolution Wind’s construction and operations plan, and that’s the final decision the wind farm needs to start offshore construction.
BOEM’s final approval follows its Record of Decision issuance in August that concluded the environmental review.
Energy provider Eversource and Danish renewables giant Ørsted’s Revolution Wind will be sited around 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast, and 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard:
The 704-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm will deliver 400 MW of clean energy to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut, powering more than 350,000 households across the two states. It’s expected to create around 1,200 local jobs during the construction phase.
US Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT) said:
Today’s final federal approval from the Biden Administration clears the way for the first direct infusion of carbon-free energy via offshore wind into Connecticut and the region.
The Revolution Wind project will generate 304 MW to directly power Connecticut homes and create hundreds of good-paying jobs at the State Pier in New London.
Eversource and Ørsted invested over $100 million to redevelop the State Pier in the Port of New London into a heavy-lift marine terminal where Revolution Wind turbines will be staged and assembled. Staging and assembly for New York’s South Fork Wind is underway at the port.
Revolution Wind’s onshore construction activities have already begun, and it’s expected to come online in 2025.
Read more: Here’s how US offshore wind could play out by 2050
Photo and map: Revolution Wind
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.