Mayflower Wind, a U.S. offshore wind joint venture between Shell and Ocean Winds, has been awarded the right to provide 400 MW of offshore wind power by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its three biggest utilities as part of Massachusetts’ 83C III offshore wind energy procurement.
Combined with its 804MW PPA from 83C II, Mayflower Wind will now provide more than 1.2GW of electricity to customers throughout Massachusetts.
"With today’s announcement, Mayflower will start development of the federal lease area and continue pursuing additional energy contracts until the full 2000 MW maximum lease capacity is realized. Subject to a future investment decision, operations are expected to be commissioned in the mid to late 2020s. The award is accompanied by an economic development package that includes commitments to spend up to $42.3 million, including $27 million over 10 years to the South Coast Community Foundation," Shell said.
"This decision is the result of the extraordinary collaboration between our team and the many communities and stakeholders we have worked with over the past several months. It also reaffirms the quality and competitiveness of our bid as well as the expertise our team and sponsors bring to the offshore wind industry,” said Michael Brown, CEO of Mayflower Wind.
As mentioned, the win was accompanied is an economic development package that will support the building of the offshore wind supply chain in the region; provide for education and training of an offshore wind workforce; make significant investments in local ports, businesses, and infrastructure; as well as offer diversity, equity, and inclusion measures that include the hiring of specialized firms and support for low-income electric consumers, among other measures.
"Today we celebrate an important milestone in making offshore wind a reality, providing clean reliable energy to the people of Massachusetts and bringing tangible economic development benefit to the SouthCoast. Ocean Winds is proud to contribute to the critical effort of building a clean, sustainable, and prosperous future for the United States, starting with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Grzegorz Gorski, COO, Ocean Winds.
Mayflower Wind will install wind turbines in federal waters 20 miles south of Nantucket in the Atlantic Ocean and connect them at Brayton Point, home of a formal coal-fired power plant. When fully operational the project will produce enough electricity to power 800,000 homes annually, create 14,000 jobs, result in economic development, and eliminate up to 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year, the partners said.