Tdworld 19521 Offshore Wind Rost 9d 2
Tdworld 19521 Offshore Wind Rost 9d 2
Tdworld 19521 Offshore Wind Rost 9d 2
Tdworld 19521 Offshore Wind Rost 9d 2
Tdworld 19521 Offshore Wind Rost 9d 2

Bay State Wind Submits Bid for Offshore Wind Farm in Massachusetts

Aug. 28, 2019
Bay State Wind to help replace lost capacity, diversify the state’s power sources with clean, reliable energy.

Bay State Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource, recently submitted its proposal in response to the commonwealth’s second request for proposals (RFP) for offshore wind energy generation. Bay State Wind included proposals for a 400-MW and 800-MW project. Bay State Wind’s bid delivers project maturity, community investments, stakeholder collaboration, and an achievable timeline for project development.

With several major power plants set to go offline over the next decade, Bay State Wind will help replace lost capacity and diversify the state’s power sources with clean, reliable energy. The 800-MW project can generate enough clean, renewable energy to provide power up to 500,000 Massachusetts homes and is expected to deliver greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to taking up to 350,000 cars off the road.

"Since day one, our team has been focused on delivering cost-effective, renewable offshore wind energy to the Bay State," said President of Ørsted North America and CEO of Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind Thomas Brostrøm. "Our project will not only create jobs and provide local investment, but it will also be delivered by the offshore wind’s leading experts to ensure the project is achievable, sustainable, and successful for the commonwealth."

"We are thrilled to once again help Massachusetts take the next step to grow its clean energy economy," said Eversource Executive Vice President for Enterprise Energy Strategy and Business Development Lee Olivier. "Our team has been in the local communities, meeting with residents and stakeholders, to ensure their feedback is built into Bay State Wind’s proposal, which is the most mature, comprehensive, and thorough offshore wind project available."

Bay State Wind brings a number of differentiators to its bid in several key areas:

Four-Year Maturity of the Bay State Wind Project

Bay State Wind has been in development since 2015, with currently over 50 local full-time employees supporting project development in Massachusetts. The team has developed metrics, including integrated scheduling techniques, to measure progress and proactively anticipate all steps in the process of constructing a wind farm in the waters off New England.

In an effort to gather as much information and research about the project footprint and its surrounding environment, the team has gathered two years of advanced floating light detection and ranging (FLiDAR) wind speed data, and conducted over 12,000 miles of geotechnical surveys in the lease area and along the export cable route.

Long-Term Engagement with Marine Life and Fisheries

Sharing use of marine resources is critical not only to the success of offshore wind, but also for the larger efforts to create more renewable energy for a better, sustainable world. Understanding the challenges that can come with co-existence in the ocean, pertaining to marine, mammal, and animal life, as well as Massachusetts’ deeply-rooted fishing industry, Bay State Wind has demonstrated a willingness to work directly with the fishing industry and other ocean users. For example:

  • In response to feedback from fishermen and community members, Bay State Wind claims to be the first developer to proactively revise its turbine layout pattern to accommodate historical fishing patterns and help provide greater ease of fishing within, and transiting through, the wind farm.
  • Bay State Wind developers claim to be the first in the industry to partner with the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), the only national commercial fishing organization that is purpose-built for interacting with the offshore wind industry to maintain sustainable fisheries.
  • Bay State Wind’s Engineering and Layouts team has incorporated, and continues to incorporate, many suggestions from fishermen and local stakeholders in order to balance the need for safe navigation, fishing concerns, and clean energy production.
  • Bay State Wind claims to have the most resources dedicated to, and experience with, the fishing community of any developer in America.

Investment in Massachusetts

Bay State Wind claims to be committed to meaningful, local investment to ensure the Massachusetts community as a whole benefits from offshore wind development. In addition to providing hundreds of jobs during construction, the project is committing hundreds of millions to direct community investments.

The Bay State Wind proposal is based on an evaluation of the work being led by Ørsted and Eversource’s team. The project will be located 25 miles off the Massachusetts South Coast and 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The wind farm is not visible over the horizon from mainland Massachusetts and on the clearest of days only marginally visible from the shores of Martha's Vineyard.

For more details about the Bay State Wind project, please reference the fact sheet here.

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