Then again, contracts for large energy developments such as offshore wind often do plan for the unexpected - building in mechanisms such as inflation indexing or other sorts of adjustments. One pandemic, a European war, an energy realignment and economic meltdown later, and it’s clear that may not have been the best strategic decision, but no one could have predicted that. Part of DEEP’s explanation at the time was its desire to wait a few years until prices fell, which was already happening. The department still faced criticism for only tackling one project from the new authorization. In December of 2019, DEEP approved the 804-megawatt Park City Wind, which was to include a massive redevelopment at the port of Bridgeport, hence the project’s name. And that remains the only mandate in place. It took another year after Revolution was announced for the Connecticut legislature to approve an authorization of up to 2,000 megawatts by 2030, not including Revolution. New Jersey had already mandated 3,500 megawatts of development by 2030 and, in addition to its own mandate, Massachusetts had rehabbed a port to handle offshore wind components and opened a turbine-testing facility. Revolution Wind, at the time it was approved, however, was not enough to satisfy environmental advocates and others because the state still hadn’t done what its neighbors, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, had already done, which was to authorize large amounts of offshore wind to be developed. It’s another Eversource/Ørsted project that will provide power to New York from the waters between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard. One portion is complete, and in just a few weeks, turbine components will be delivered then assembled and shipped out for construction at a lease area called South Fork Wind. The port authority running the State Pier has been mired in political, financial and ethical upheaval, but its redevelopment for offshore wind is moving along. Revolution is being developed by Eversource and Ørsted from hubs at the State Pier in New London and ProvPort in Rhode Island. Not huge, but the first grid-scale offshore wind power for each state. Another portion of Revolution will supply 400 megawatts to Rhode Island. Another 100 megawatts was added, and the project’s current total is a little over 300 megawatts. What happened and why?Ĭonnecticut was already late to the offshore wind game in June of 2018 when it approved its first project - just 200 megawatts of what is now called Revolution Wind. It’s also clear that the contract is not the only problem facing the Park City project. “Avangrid is working with all stakeholders to find solutions to the global price increases outside of its control and deliver these important projects to Massachusetts and Connecticut,” said company spokesman Craig Gilvarg.Īlthough the exact status of the Park City Wind contract is unknown, the events leading up to this point are less of a mystery. “However, this is something that is a larger, much larger problem than any one project with inflation.” She is director of clean energy policy at the Environmental League of Massachusetts and also regional lead for the New England for Offshore Wind coalition, which the league started. “This situation is certainly unfortunate, and we wish that we weren’t here,” said Susannah Hatch of the contract upheaval. It’s a development that has the potential to send Connecticut back almost to the starting gate on offshore wind - the energy source the state has, for several years now, viewed as the near-panacea that will deliver it from its fossil fuel past to its climate-change-mitigating future, including reaching its mandate for a zero-carbon grid by 2040. Avangrid has cited inflation and high interest rates, along with their causes - COVID, supply chain problems and the Russian invasion of Ukraine - as the factors necessitating more revenue to ensure financing to build Park City. Its developer, Avangrid - parent of United Illuminating and the American arm of the multi-national Spanish energy company Iberdrola - is trying to rewrite, renegotiate, rebid or otherwise alter its offshore wind contract with Connecticut, according to industry sources. Connecticut could be in danger of losing its biggest offshore wind project - the more than 800 megawatt plan known as Park City Wind.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |