Two major offshore wind energy projects have been selected by the Massachusetts government to lead the state’s drive to develop an offshore wind energy sector.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts selected the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and the 400 MW Revolution Wind project as the winners in its first offshore wind tender.

The Vineyard Wind project will be built 24 km south of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, while the Revolution Wind project will be built in Rhode Island.

The Revolution Wind project was selected through Rhode Island's participation in the clean energy procurement process conducted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its developer is Deepwater Wind. The firm behind the first offshore wind farm in the USA, the 30 MW Block Island project.

Vineyard Wind’s developers will now start negotiating with the Massachusetts Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) over power purchase agreements for the project. Vineyard Wind is jointly owned by funds managed by the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (50 per cent) and Avangrid/Iberdrola (50 per cent).

Vineyard Wind is expected to start operating in 2021.

“The Vineyard Wind team is honoured to be chosen to provide clean wind energy for communities across Massachusetts, and CIP is committed to continue to move forward with our plan to make Vineyard Wind the first operational large-scale offshore wind project in the United States,” said Torsten Lodberg Smed, senior partner with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. “For CIP, the selection of Vineyard Wind as the preferred solution in the Massachusetts is a significant outcome and an important milestone in our efforts to take a key role in the build out of offshore wind in North America.”