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Deadline Passes For Connecticut's First Wind-Only Energy Solicitation

Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public Radio

Monday was the deadline for energy companies to submit plans to Connecticut officials for the development of offshore wind power in response to the first-ever RFP dedicated solely to the energy source.

The RFP authorizes the state to purchase up to 2,000 megawatts, or about 30% of the state’s load, from yet-to-be-built offshore wind.

In response to the RFP, Vineyard Wind and joint venture partners Eversource and Ørsted both submitted separate bids Monday. 

Vineyard Wind’s proposals would be located south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and would not be visible from the Connecticut shoreline. Eversource/Ørsted’s proposals would also be located in a similar area, about 65 miles from Connecticut’s coast. 

Mike Ausere is vice president of business development at Eversource. He said the partnership has given the state several proposals from which to choose. 

“One of the bids will deliver enough energy to serve a quarter of a million homes. And on the larger end of the spectrum, one of our bids will serve close to half-a-million homes,” Ausere said.

Mayflower Wind, a joint-venture of Shell and EDP Renewables, also submitted two bids to Connecticut. Last month, the company responded to another RFP in Massachusetts.

The state still needs to pick which proposals it will select to move forward. That’s expected to happen in November.

Meanwhile, without legislative action, federal tax incentives for offshore wind are currently slated to expire at the year’s end.

But Ausere says projects submitted by Monday’s deadline would still be eligible for those incentives.

Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.

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