Offshore

Revolution Wind gets final approvals from feds

Revolution Wind gets final approvals from feds
(Credit: Revolution Wind)

Revolution Wind has received approval of the project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which is the final decision needed from the agency to move the project toward the start of offshore construction.

The first utility-scale offshore wind farm serving Rhode Island and Connecticut, and a joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource, Revolution Wind will deliver 400 MW of power to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut once complete. Revolution Wind’s onshore construction activities are already well underway, with offshore construction ramping up in 2024. The project is expected to be operational in 2025. 

Rhode Island Energy has already begun work to replace nine miles of power lines to allow power from the project to be added to the grid. Many of the older power lines and substations need to be updated in order to connect the Revolution Wind farm to RIE’s power grid, the utility said.

The COP approval outlines the project’s one nautical mile turbine spacing, the requirements on the construction methodology for all work occurring in federal ocean waters, and mitigation measures to protect marine habitats and species.

BOEM’s final approval of the COP follows the agency’s August 2023 issuance of its Record of Decision, which concluded the BOEM-led environmental review of the project. Ørsted and Eversource reached these provisions and protections by working with a range of external organizations and experts, the companies said.

In other offshore wind news, the BOEM also just issued its Record of Decision for Equinor and bp’s Empire Wind, approving two wind farms 12 nautical miles (nm) south of Long Island, N.Y., and about 16.9 nm east of Long Branch, N.J, following a rocky and uncertain start to the project.

The project was originally on the chopping block after the New York State Public Service Commission denied petitions filed by a group of developers and a state renewable energy trade association seeking billions of dollars in additional funding from consumers for four proposed offshore wind projects and 86 land-based renewable projects. In October, developers who filed the petition, including subsidiaries of Orsted, Equinor, and bp, said that they were reviewing the Commission’s decision before reassessing their offshore projects, like Orsted’s 924- MW Sunrise Wind, Equinor/bp’s 816-MW Empire Wind 1, 1,260-MW Empire Wind 2 and 1,230-MW Beacon Wind.

The U.S. offshore wind industry is facing cost challenges across the board, as utilities and developers alike pay the price to pull out of agreements.

Ørsted recently scrapped 2 offshore wind power projects in New Jersey, citing supply chain issues. Now, the company is trying to get out of a $300 million guarantee it agreed to pay New Jersey in the event it failed to build its first wind farm off the state’s coast.

Rhode Island Energy recently pulled out of its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the Revolution Wind 2 offshore project — citing higher interest rates, increased expenses, and questionable federal tax credits — and concluding that the project had become uneconomical.

In July, Avangrid agreed to pay $48 million to pull out of a PPA with Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil for another offshore wind project, the 1,223 MW Commonwealth Wind located 20 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island Energy, meanwhile, terminated its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the offshore wind farm Revolution Wind 2.

In total, the cancellations equate to nearly one-fifth of President Joe Biden’s goal of 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030.

However, the U.S. offshore wind industry is making some headway despite the setbacks.

As Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind sit on the precipice of delivering their first power to the grid, the pipeline of projects approved for construction has tripled in size, with more projects just weeks away from achieving final approval themselves. These findings are detailed in the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s U.S. Offshore Wind Quarterly Market Report, which documents key investments announced over the past three months, growth in state demand for offshore wind and notable policy advancements that drove the U.S. market forward between July and September 2023.