新提案激发了海上风电加速发展的希望 四家开发商已提交在新英格兰南部海岸建造风电场的投标
【中美创新时报2024 年 3 月 28 日讯】（记者温友平编译）四家风电场开发商本周提交了在新英格兰南部水域建造新一波高耸涡轮机的提案，这为新兴行业在成本上升的停滞后能够重新焕发活力带来了希望。马萨诸塞州将在八月之前选择项目。《波士顿环球报》记者乔恩·切斯托（Jon Chesto）对此进行了下述报道。
这些提案将于周三到期，在某种程度上，这是对先前因利率和供应成本急剧上升而被搁置的风电开发工作的重做。为了提高兴趣，马萨诸塞州州长莫拉·希利决定与罗德岛州和康涅狄格州州长合作进行联合招标，目标是通过联合力量提供更大的合同——行业领袖表示此举将有助于使项目在经济上更加可行。
竞标者之一 Avangrid 海上风电开发负责人肯·金梅尔 (Ken Kimmell) 表示：“我们认为，它可以让项目以更大的规模进行竞标，在更大的基础上分摊成本，并制定更高效的基础设施计划。”
投标的许多具体细节——例如电力价格和建筑成本——周三还没有公布。不可避免的是，这些投标将为开发商提供比前一波投标更高的补偿，并通过电力合同提供资金。在马萨诸塞州，州能源部将与该州三大电力公司一起审查投标，并在 8 月 7 日之前选出获胜者。
到目前为止，该地区仅开始了两个大型风电场的海上建设：Ørsted 新建的 South Fork Wind 风电场，为纽约长岛的消费者提供 130 兆瓦的电力；以及 Vineyard Wind 风电场，这是 Avangrid 和 Avangrid 之间的合资企业。哥本哈根基础设施合作伙伴公司正在玛莎葡萄园岛以南建设，建成后将为马萨诸塞州提供 800 兆瓦的电力。（该国第一个小型风电场于 2016 年在布洛克岛附近建成。）
由于成本问题，东北海域的其他几项提案已被搁置，这引发了人们对海上风电能否迅速满足该地区对清洁能源的需求的怀疑。
支持者希望最新的投标代表了有前途的下一代风电场，因为这些欧洲公司响应国家监管机构的努力，以实现清洁排放目标，并在旧的化石燃料发电厂退役时为电网提供新的电力来源。在这一轮中，马萨诸塞州监管机构寻求高达 3,600 兆瓦或近 200 万户家庭的投标；加上康涅狄格州和罗德岛州，这三个州的合同总计可能高达 6,800 兆瓦。
罗德岛州布洛克岛风电场。DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
马萨诸塞州环境联盟海上风电总监凯尔特·威尔斯卡（Kelt Wilska）表示：“当你们以合作方式发出招标时，就会向开发商发出一个市场信号，表明你们是认真的。”
以下是参加三州征集活动的公司概要：
Avangrid：西班牙公司 Iberdrola 的子公司向所有三个州提交了一份名为“新英格兰 1”的 791 兆瓦提案。 Avangrid 在该项目的许可方面取得了重大进展，此前该项目被提议命名为帕克城风电项目，并表示该项目最快将于 2029 年在科德角以南约 30 英里的水域建成。 Avangrid还提出了新英格兰风2号（以前称为英联邦风），如果第一阶段也获胜，则可以开发该项目。 Avangrid 计划使用塞勒姆的一个新港口进行分段和组装，并使用新贝德福德和布里奇波特的港口进行运营和维护。如果 New England Wind 1 获胜，Avangrid 将达成协议，向波士顿市提供 15 兆瓦的电力。两个 Avangrid 项目加起来可为近 100 万户家庭提供足够的电力。
Vineyard Offshore：这家企业由哥本哈根基础设施合作伙伴拥有，最初与 Avangrid 合作建设第一个 Vineyard Wind 项目。现在，CIP 的合资企业正在提交自己的提案，发电量为 1,200 兆瓦，名称为“Vineyard Wind 2”。电力可以由一个州获取，也可以在三个州之间分配。该合资企业表示，该电力足以满足多达 65 万户家庭的需求，最快将于 2031 年投入使用。该风电场将建在楠塔基特岛以南近 30 英里处。一些建设将在塞勒姆和普罗维登斯港口进行，而运营和维护将在新贝德福德进行。
SouthCoast Wind：EDP Renewables 和 Engie 合作，以 Ocean Winds 名义提交了一份投标书，向这三个州提供 1,200 兆瓦的电力。该合资企业没有提供太多有关竞标的信息，尽管之前的计划包括在新贝德福德进行建设工作，并在福尔里弗建立运营中心。
Ørsted：这家丹麦能源公司向康涅狄格州和罗德岛州监管机构提交了一份名为“Starboard Wind”的 1,184 兆瓦提案。Starboard 将为超过 600,000 个家庭提供足够的电力。Ørsted 和 Eversource 已经在建设另一个风电场，即 704 兆瓦的 Revolution Wind，将为康涅狄格州和罗德岛州提供服务。Revolution Wind 的陆上工作已经开始，海上工作预计很快就会开始。 Ørsted表示，它在最新一轮中没有向马萨诸塞州提交申请，因为它喜欢康涅狄格州和罗德岛州规则提供的更灵活的结构，但仍计划在马萨诸塞州萨默塞特进行互连点的建设工作。
海上风电倡导者希望这些投标能够在该行业经历一段艰难时期后带来一些新的动力。
保护法基金会的凯特·辛丁·戴利 (Kate Sinding Daly) 表示：“这一举措，再加上联邦政府两周前在缅因湾指定的[新]风能区，确实预示着海上风电的新时代。” 她表示，她认识到最新一轮投标的成本将比前几轮更高，但她表示，一旦考虑到气候变化和烟囱污染的成本，“海上风电将成为该地区纳税人的明显赢家” 混合。
新英格兰发电机协会主席丹·多兰（Dan Dolan）对潜在成本提出了警告，尽管他表示海上风电将在确保该地区电网的可靠性以及帮助减少对化石能源的依赖方面发挥重要作用 燃料。
多兰说：“保持警惕很重要，因为我们不知道今天提交的材料的许多重要细节，特别是在成本方面。” “但希望今天标志着该行业经历了重大市场转型期之后的一个转折点。”
Vineyard Wind 的第一批风力涡轮机部件已于 5 月抵达新贝德福德，Vineyard Wind 是玛莎葡萄园岛以南正在建设的一个风电场。MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF
题图：去年，一艘船只在马萨诸塞州南部海岸安装海上风力涡轮机。DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
附原英文报道：
New proposals spark hope that offshore wind will pick up speed
Four developers have filed bids to build wind farms off the southern coast of New England. Massachusetts will select projects by August.
By Jon Chesto Globe Staff,Updated March 27, 2024
Four wind farm developers this week filed proposals to build a new wave of towering turbines in waters south of New England, offering hope that a nascent industry can be sparked back to life after stalling out amid rising costs.
The proposals were due Wednesday in what is, to some extent, a re-do of prior wind development efforts that were shelved amid sharply rising interest rates and supply costs. To boost interest, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey decided to team up with governors in Rhode Island and Connecticut to conduct a joint solicitation, with a goal of offering larger contracts by combining forces — a move that industry leaders say will help make projects more economically feasible.
“We think it allows for projects to bid at potentially greater scale, to spread the cost among a larger base and also to have a more efficient infrastructure plan,” said Ken Kimmell, who leads offshore wind development for Avangrid, one of the bidders.
Many specific details of the bids — such as the price for power and construction costs — were not available on Wednesday. Inevitably, these bids will provide higher reimbursements for the developers, to be funded through electric utility contracts, than the earlier wave of bids did. In Massachusetts, the state Department of Energy Resources will review the bids along with the state’s three main electric utilities and select winners by August 7.
So far, offshore construction has only begun on two large-scale wind farms in the region, Ørsted’s newly built South Fork Wind, which provides 130 megawatts of electricity to New York consumers on Long Island, and Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners that is going up south of Martha’s Vineyard and will provide 800 megawatts of power for Massachusetts once it’s complete. (A small wind farm, the country’s first, was built off Block Island in 2016.)
Several other proposals in waters off the Northeast have been shelved because of the costs, sowing doubts that offshore wind can quickly address the region’s demands for clean energy.
Advocates hope the latest bids represent a promising next generation of wind farms, as these European companies respond to state regulators’ efforts to reach clean-emissions goals and provide new sources of electricity to the grid as older fossil fuel-fired plants retire. In this round, Massachusetts regulators sought bids for up to 3,600 megawatts, or nearly 2 million homes; with Connecticut and Rhode Island, the contracts for the three states could total up to 6,800 megawatts.
“When you issue solicitations collaboratively, you’re going to send a market signal to developers that you mean business,” said Kelt Wilska, offshore wind director at the Environmental League of Massachusetts.
Here’s a rundown of who showed up for the three-state solicitation:
Avangrid: The subsidiary of Spanish company Iberdrola submitted a 791-megawatt proposal dubbed New England 1 to all three states. Avangrid made significant headway for permitting for the project, when it was previously proposed as Park City Wind, and says it could be built as soon as 2029 in waters about 30 miles south of Cape Cod. Avangrid also proposed New England Wind 2, formerly known as Commonwealth Wind, which could be developed if the first phase also wins. Avangrid plans to use a new port in Salem for staging and assembly, and ports in New Bedford and Bridgeport for operations and maintenance. Should New England Wind 1 win, Avangrid has an agreement to deliver 15 megawatts of power to the city of Boston. Combined, the two Avangrid projects could provide enough juice for nearly 1 million homes.
Vineyard Offshore: This venture, owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, initially partnered with Avangrid to build the first Vineyard Wind project. Now, CIP’s venture is submitting its own proposal, for 1,200 megawatts, under the name “Vineyard Wind 2.” The electricity could be taken by one state, or divided among the three. It’s enough electricity, the venture said, for up to 650,000 homes, and could come online as soon as 2031. This wind farm would be built nearly 30 miles south of Nantucket. Some construction would take place in the Salem and Providence ports, while operations and maintenance would be based in New Bedford.
SouthCoast Wind: This partnership of EDP Renewables and Engie submitted a bid, under their Ocean Winds banner, to deliver 1,200 megawatts to the three states. The venture didn’t provide much information about the bid, although previous plans included construction work in New Bedford and an operations hub in Fall River.
Ørsted: This Danish energy company submitted a 1,184-megawatt proposal, called Starboard Wind, to Connecticut and Rhode Island regulators. Starboard would provide enough power for more than 600,000 homes. Ørsted and Eversource are already building another wind farm, the 704-megawatt Revolution Wind that will serve Connecticut and Rhode Island. On-shore work has started on Revolution Wind, and offshore work is expected to begin soon. Ørsted said it didn’t submit to Massachusetts in the latest round because it liked the more flexible structures provided by the Connecticut and Rhode Island rules, but still plans construction work in Somerset, Mass., for an interconnection point.
Offshore wind advocates hope that these bids will bring some fresh momentum after a rocky stretch for the industry.
“This, coupled with the federal designation of [new] wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine two weeks ago, really presages a new day for offshore wind,” said Kate Sinding Daly of the Conservation Law Foundation. She said she recognizes that the latest round of bids will be at a higher cost than earlier rounds, but she said “offshore wind is going to be a clear winner for ratepayers in the region” once the costs of climate change and smokestack pollution are added to the mix.
Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, offered a note of caution about the potential cost, although he said offshore wind will play an important role in ensuring the reliability of the region’s grid as well as helping it become less reliant on fossil fuels.
“It is important to remain watchful as we do not know many important details of today’s submissions, particularly with respect to cost,” Dolan said. “But hopefully today marks a turning point following a period of major market transition for the industry.”
