Maryland and Massachusetts (US) award 3.2 GW of offshore wind projects

The Massachusetts administration (United States) has selected two offshore wind projects, 1.2 GW Vineyard Wind and 400 MW Mayflower Wind, with a combined capacity of 1.6 GW, under a Request for Proposal (RFP) released in May 2021.

• Vineyard Wind, a 50:50 joint venture of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables (Iberdrola), will develop the 1,232 MW Commonwealth Wind offshore wind park, as part of a larger project to convert former coal-fired power plants into clean energy centers (a new submarine cable factory and a new offshore wind construction terminal).
• The Mayflower wind project is developed by Ocean Winds, a 50:50 joint venture of EDP Renovaveis and Engie. Massachusetts aims to have 4 GW of contracted offshore wind capacity by 2027 and 5.6 GW operational later on. 

In addition, the Maryland Public Service Commission (United States) has awarded more than 1.6 GW of offshore wind capacity.

• It has awarded a 20-year Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) to Ørsted, which had submitted a bid for the 846 MW Skipjack Wind 2 offshore wind project. The Danish energy group is currently developing Skipjack Wind 1, a 120 MW project off the Maryland-Delaware coast that is expected to be commissioned in 2026. It will build the Skipjack Wind 1 and 2 projects as one project, with commissioning planned in 2026. The 2026 OREC price for Skipjack Wind 2 in 2012 levelised terms is US$71.61/MWh.
• Moreover, the Maryland PSC selected US Wind's 808 MW Momentum Wind project at a levelised price of US$54.17/MWh over a 20-year period. These offshore wind projects should significantly contribute to Maryland’s goal of sourcing 50% power from renewables by 2030 and to the the US strategy to develop 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030.