Rhode Island Energy, Rhode Island’s leading energy utility, has issued a request for proposals (RfP) for 1,200 MW of offshore wind projects in line with the state’s efforts to bring in more green power and reach its renewable energy goals.
The competitive round is the state’s largest renewable energy solicitation to date, the utility said on Friday. Proposals submitted in the round are due by the end of January 2024, with winners set to be announced in the summer of that year.
Successful projects will be awarded long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs) with Rhode Island Energy.
The RfP comes on the heels of an agreement between Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut to jointly seek proposals for up to 6 GW of offshore wind capacity for selection in 2024 through their respective state procurements.
“With a larger capacity available, a streamlined application process, additional flexibility on contract durations, and the potential for multi-state coordination, we believe this solicitation could provide greater economies of scale for developers,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy.
Rhode Island is home to the 30-MW Block Island wind farm, the country’s first offshore wind farm, and from 2025 will receive electricity from the 704-MW Revolution Wind project by Denmark’s Ørsted A/S and utility Eversource Energy. In July, it turned down another bid by the same partners in a RfP seeking 600 MW to 1,000 MW of offshore wind due to affordability concerns.
Source: renewablesnow
