The 200MW Revolution Wind awarded by Connecticut is in addition to the 400MW the project was allocated by neighbouring state Rhode Island in May, suggesting the project will be 600MW in capacity.
Deepwater Wind will now enter into negotiations on a 20-year contract with utilities Eversource and United Illuminating in Connecticut. It is also negotiating terms with National Grid for the 400MW allocation in Rhode Island.
The developer, which built the US’ first offshore wind farm, had previously stated that construction on Revolution Wind would start in 2022 and the project would enter operations in 2023.
Under the terms of the bid in Connecticut, Deepwater Wind had also agreed to a series of local content-related commitments including use of New London for "significant portions of construction and/or assembly", including foundations and offshore substations; contracting a Connecticut-based boat builder to construct one of the project’s crew transfer vessels; and provide local businesses with opportunities to participate in the development process.
The Connecticut RfP comes a month after Rhode Island awarded Deepwater Wind 400MW of capacity and Massachusetts awarded 800MW to Vineyard Wind.
Nancy Sopko, director of offshore wind for the American Wind Energy Association, said: "With demand for 1.4GW of US offshore wind announced in less than a month, there’s a golden opportunity for heavy manufacturing companies and shipbuilders to invest in American jobs, factories and infrastructure."
Connecticut is limited to awarding capacity to offshore wind projects for 3% of state utilities’ total electric load, the state government added. Revolution Wind will meet this full 3% allocation, the state stated.
In its first request for proposals (RFP) for clean energy, the state also awarded 52MW to fuel cells and 1.6MW to an anaerobic digestion project.
