Bay State Wind, the joint venture between Danish and local utilities Orsted and Eversource, has also submitted a proposal for the expansion of offshore wind power in the US state of Massachusetts.

The plan for a 400MW and 800MW project come in response to the commonwealth’s (state’s) second request for proposals (RFP) for offshore wind generation.

“Since day one our team has been focused on delivering cost-effective, renewable offshore wind energy to the Bay State,” said Orsted North America chief executive Thomas Brostrøm.

Rival Vineyard Wind – the developer owned by Iberdrola’s Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners – has also sent proposals to the Massachusetts Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) as part of the state’s procurement for clean energy and transmission.

Massachusetts is likely to become the first US state building a utility-scale offshore wind array – Vineyard Wind 1 – but the completion of the first 800MW wind farm faces delays after a federal agency has held up the environmental green light for the project. Half of the project was supposed to go online by the end of 2021, and the other half by the end of 2022, a schedule that is now uncertain.

Despite the hiccup, Massachusetts is racing ahead with follow-up projects as part of its second RFP.

Bay State Wind said its bid delivers unmatched project maturity, community investments, stakeholder collaboration and an achievable timeline for project development – and cannot be seen on the horizon from mainland beaches in Massachusetts.

With several major power plants set to go offline over the next decade, Bay State Wind will help replace lost capacity and diversify the state’s power sources with clean, reliable energy, the company adds.

Bay State Wind has been in development since 2015, the company stressed, adding that its team has gathered two years of advanced FLiDAR wind speed data specific to its lease area15 miles south-west of the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

“We are thrilled to once again help Massachusetts take the next step to grow its clean energy economy,” said Eversource executive vice president for enterprise energy strategy and business development Lee Olivier.

“Our team has been in the local communities, meeting with residents and stakeholders, to ensure their feedback is built into Bay State Wind’s proposal, which is the most mature, comprehensive and thorough offshore wind project available.”