By Anders Lorenzen

The two New England states Massachusetts and Rhode Island have approved three giant offshore wind projects which combined will have an installed capacity of 2.9 gigawatts (GW) equivalent to powering 1.6 million US homes.

Last month state government officials confirmed these three projects have been approved in a major boost to the Biden Administration’s 30 GW offshore wind by 2030 target.

SouthCoast Wind, New England Wind 1 and Vineyard Wind 2 will be constructed off New England’s shores by Energias de Portugal (EDP) & Engie, Avangrid and Vineyard Offshore & Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). It is estimated they will be operational by the end of this decade.

Following a catastrophic 2023 and the first half of 2024, the US offshore wind sector appears to have stabilised in the second half of 2024 with several new projects being confirmed in the last few years, bouncing back after several projects had been cancelling last year and in the beginning of 2024.

A historic milestone

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said “Today marks a historic milestone for Rhode Island and Massachusetts as we join forces to drive the largest offshore wind procurement in New England’s history,” with this project, Rhode Island is taking a significant step forward in meeting our Act on Climate goals and building a clean energy economy that benefits all Rhode Islanders.” 

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey added: “Today we are proud to announce that, along with our partners in Rhode Island, we are taking an important step towards energy independence, cleaner air, and transforming our economy. We’ll power 1 million more Massachusetts homes with clean, renewable energy, create thousands of good, union jobs, and generate billions of dollars in economic activity. The world will look to New England for the future of clean energy.”

Not surprisingly the Biden Administration was delighted with the announcement with White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi stating:  “Today New England is showing continued leadership on seizing offshore wind opportunities, as part of nationwide clean energy progress that is surging under the Biden-Harris Administration”. 

Massachusetts aims to slash its power sector’s carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Rhode Island, a much smaller state, has set a goal of 100% renewables by 2033.