Vineyard Wind has submitted proposals for an offshore wind project, Park City Wind, to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in response to its 2019 solicitation for offshore wind power. The bids submitted include a required 400 MW plan and options to develop projects that will generate 800 MW, 1000 MW and 1200 MW.
Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind commented: “[We] are pleased to submit a dynamic set of project proposals to deliver a reliable source of fixed, low-cost, zero-emission energy to Connecticut rate-payers. Our … proposal is much more than an energy project – it’s an opportunity for Connecticut to develop a world-class offshore wind industry in Bridgeport and solidify its role as a high value industry hub in the US for years to come. [We] will be announcing additional details about this opportunity in the weeks ahead.”
Park City Wind includes projects ranging from 408 MW to 1200 MW that would be constructed in one of Vineyard Wind’s two federally designated lease areas (Lease Area OCS-A 0501 and Lease Area OCS-A 0522). Both lease areas are located south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in an area with the strongest winds on the east coast and would not be visible from any shoreline in Connecticut.
•Federal regulators are holding off on issuing a key environmental impact statement for Vineyard Wind’s proposed 800 MW wind farm planned for a location off the Massachusetts coast – a move the company called a “surprise and disappointment.”
Connie Gillette, chief of public affairs for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said that the agency took the action after receiving comments from stakeholders and co-operating agencies requesting a more robust cumulative analysis that would include projects that have been awarded power purchase agreements, but may not yet have submitted construction and operations plans.