RI - Rhode Island Revises Terms as It Issues Its Largest Wind Power Solicitation
Rhode Island is moving forward with the state’s largest renewable energy solicitation after announcing it would form a three-state partnership with Connecticut and Massachusetts to review and coordinate a regional approach to offshore renewable energy.
At the same time, Rhode Island is also providing additional latitude to developers to provide possible avenues to address the emerging financial challenges in the development of offshore wind energy resources.
The neighboring states each have recently had major offshore projects fall apart due to inflation pressures as well as rising costs due to supply chain problems and concerns over tax credits and incentive programs. Massachusetts agreed to let two projects pay fines to walk away from existing power purchase agreements and recently Connecticut also established a fine for a developer to cancel its power agreement. Last year, Rhode Island decided not to proceed with a proposed project saying that it was concerned over the affordability of the power coming from the offshore wind farm, while last week New York State turned down applications from developers that were seeking to increase the cost of power also citing inflation and rising costs to develop the projects.
Rhode Island’s state power company, Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued its anticipated request for proposals from offshore energy developers. The company is seeking to secure an additional 1.2 GW of offshore power to help address the state’s energy needs. The window to submit proposals runs through January 31, 2024, with the company saying that any winning bids will be announced in the summer of 2024.
"We know there's a sense of urgency to get more renewables online and we believe this next RFP will give developers a new, unique opportunity to think creatively about how they can meet the state's clean energy and economic development goals,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy. He believes the structure created in the RFP will balance developers’ approach with the state’s need for affordable energy.
The RFP provides the opportunity for developers to make proposals for all or a portion of the 1.2 GW. The state is still seeking long-term power purchase agreements but it will consider inflation indexing while also citing the renewable energy certificates made available under state law. In addition, the three states said they would jointly review proposals providing developers the opportunity to potentially propose larger or multi-state projects.
"With a larger capacity available, a streamlined application process, additional flexibility on contract durations, and the potential for multi-state coordination, we believe this solicitation could provide greater economies of scale for developers," said Bonenberger.
