Rhode Island Energy has issued a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to 1,200 MW of offshore wind capacity, the utility company announced on Friday, marking the largest solicitation of clean energy in the state’s history.
The announcement comes amid a period of setbacks for the industry due to escalating costs from supply chain constraints, high commodity prices and increased interest rates. Rhode Island’s most recent offshore wind solicitation received just one bid, which was rejected by Rhode Island Energy in July. (See Rhode Island Energy Rejects Revolution Wind 2 Proposal.)
“We know there’s a sense of urgency to get more renewables online and we believe this next RFP will give developers a new, unique opportunity to think creatively about how they can meet the state’s clean energy and economic development goals, while balancing our customers’ affordability needs,” Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy, said via press release.
Bids are due at the end of January, aligning the state’s timeline with the solicitations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Earlier in October, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts announced an agreement to coordinate their solicitations, hoping to bring down costs and leverage their collective buying power. The agreement will enable multistate bids to two or all three of the states. (See Mass., RI, Conn. Sign Coordination Agreement for OSW Procurement.)
“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,” Bonenberger said. “We’re providing more tools to help drive affordable offshore wind opportunities to our state and we look forward to seeing how it spurs innovation and competitive pricing from offshore wind developers.”
Rhode Island Energy said that selected bids (if any) will be announced in the summer of 2024.
On Thursday, the New York Public Service Commission rejected requests for inflation adjustments on 90 clean energy projects, including four offshore wind projects totaling over 4 GW in capacity. (See NY Rejects Inflation Adjustment for Renewable Projects.)
The developers of these projects have expressed concern about the viability of their New York contracts without the extra money requested. The developers could look to New England as a place to bid their projects if they back out of their current contracts, albeit under a tight timeline to submit bids.
“It’s not easy to pivot all aspects of a project — especially interconnection and state-specific supply chain, workforce and economic development investments — to another market,” Bob Grace, president of Sustainable Energy Advantage, told NetZero Insider. “However, the developers of offshore wind projects with New York OREC contracts that are no longer financially viable have to consider offering bids into the upcoming synchronized Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut offshore wind procurements, particularly from lease areas off of New England.”
Meanwhile, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has yet to clarify what the rebidding process for projects in New York might look like, but the state has announced it’s pursuing an expedited procurement process to make up for any canceled contracts.
