
The SouthCoast Wind (SCW) 1 offshore wind project has gained approval from the Massachusetts’ Energy Facilities Siting Board to construct and operate the project’s onshore transmission facilities.
The facilities will be located at the retired coal-fired Brayton Point Power Station, where the project will connect to the grid. The project is expected to provide 1.08 GW to Massachusetts and 200 MW to Rhode Island.
Two 320 kV DC offshore power cables would begin at the Lease Area in federal waters (30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard), where SCW would construct up to 147 wind turbine generators, with as much as 2,400 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity, although the current project is designed to transmit 1,200 MW.
The 113-mile-long offshore cables would include 90.5 miles in federal waters, 20.4 miles in Rhode Island waters, and 2.1 miles within Massachusetts waters – only the Massachusetts portions are subject to Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board review. After making final landfall in Massachusetts, the lines would run 0.6 miles underground at Brayton Point to SCW’s new DC to-AC converter station, and then continue 0.2 miles underground to the existing 345 kV Brayton Point Substation. The Brayton Point site was previously the location of the largest coal-fired power plant in New England, which was shut-down and decommissioned in 2017.
Initially selected to provide 1,204 MW of wind power to Massachusetts’s electric distribution companies, SCW sought Department of Public Utilities (DPU) approval to terminate the contracts in June 2023 citing inflation, supply chain issues, and financing cost increases affecting the U.S. offshore wind industry. The DPU approved the contract termination in September 2023, and SCW agreed to a $60 million fine to three Rhode Island utilities.
In March 2024, SCW re-submitted bids to sell its power to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island electric distribution companies in a multistate bid process. Governor Maura Healey and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources announced on September 6, 2024 that Massachusetts had selected 1,087 MW of SCW’s capacity and Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee announced Rhode Island’s selection of 200 MW. Following the announcement in early September, SCW is negotiating contracts with the electric distribution companies for DPU and Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission review.
SCW considered several potential locations for the project’s landfall site, substation interconnection, onshore routes, and converter station, and it evaluated the feasibility, environmental impacts, reliability, and cost of route alternatives. The final decision finds that the proposed project route and site locations best meet the identified need in a reliable manner, with a minimum environmental impact, at the lowest possible cost. The final decision also recommends approval of a proposal by SCW for installing spare cable conduits at the landfall and in the onshore cable duct bank in conjunction with the project, in an effort to reduce long-term costs and environmental impacts of increased future wind energy deliveries to Brayton Point from the lease area.
Massachusetts’ Energy Facilities Siting Board’s final decision includes a requirement for final issuance by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) of its Record of Decision approval before SCW can begin construction of the project.
The 2024 Offshore Wind Market Report projects $65 billion will be invested in offshore wind projects by 2030. There are currently 12 GW of projects with active offtake agreements, including 4 GW under active construction at Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. China is the global leader in offshore wind capacity, with nearly 38 GW. There is merely 174 MW of offshore wind capacity currently installed in the United States as of June 30.
According to the report, there is 56 GW under development across 37 leases in the United States. Market analysts forecast 30 GW deployed by 2033 and 40 GW online by 2035, quickly making up ground behind the assumedly missed 2030 goal. These outlooks build on the 7.6 GW of offshore wind projects seeking to be operational by the end of 2027, per ACP.
Increasing material costs, high interest rates, and supply chain snags have led multiple offshore wind companies in the last year to cancel or renegotiate power contracts for planned offshore wind farms. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is tracking offshore capacity, noting totals are in flux after Orsted canceled Ocean Wind 1 and 2 in New Jersey late last year.
Earlier this summer, Vineyard Wind 1, which was developed by the same team behind Vineyard Wind 2, experienced an “incident” in which pieces of turbine blades fell into the water and washed ashore. GE Vernova, which manufactured the blade, said a preliminary investigation suggested a “manufacturing deviation” was to blame.