The Commonwealth Wind project, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), was selected for their “Commonwealth Wind” proposal on Friday, December 17th at the MA CEC’s Wind Testing Facility in Charlestown, MA. The 1232 MW selected includes a first of its kind partnership with Energy New England (ENE) which will allow its Municipal Light Plants (MLPs) to purchase offshore wind power, an opportunity that will green the portfolios of MLPs across the state.
Under the agreement, MLPs will be able to purchase up to 146,000 MWh per year in addition to Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), reducing carbon pollution by 300,000-400,000 tons over the lifetime of the contract. This agreement will enable the MLPs, which currently provide 15% of the state’s energy baseload, to make meaningful progress toward meeting renewable energy targets, as required under Massachusetts’ new climate law.
Commonwealth Wind is a newly proposed offshore wind project submitted to Massachusetts’ third competitive offshore wind solicitation. This project will be developed in an area 22 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard that was designated by the federal government in 2015 following a multi-year stakeholder process. Commonwealth Wind can deliver up to 1,232 MW of clean and affordable energy to Massachusetts, power 750,000 homes in Massachusetts, create over 11,000 jobs (FTE), catalyze hundreds of millions of investments in offshore wind infrastructure, and deliver substantial commitments to environmental justice communities.
To read the full press release, please click here.