Connecticut is poised to join neighbouring US states in a massive leap into offshore wind after its Senate unanimously backed a bill requiring procurement of 2GW by 2030.
The bill has already been approved by the state’s House of Representatives and now only needs the approval of Governor Ned Lamont – who has already spoken out enthusiastically in favour.
The imminent requirement on state utilities to take offshore wind means Connecticut joins other US Northeastern states such as Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York in tapping the renewable source for clean power – and a hoped-for slice of the industrial benefits it brings.
Connecticut has so far only signed up for 300MW of offshore wind, part of the 700MW Revolution Wind project being developed by Orsted and Eversource.
The two developers recently committed an additional $35m as part of a public-private initiative to upgrade a Connecticut-owned pier into a “world-class, state-of-the-art facility” for staging US northeast offshore wind projects.
Their total investment pledge is now $57.5m of the $93m project at the deepwater port of New London, with state agencies contributing the balance to upgrade its heavy-lift capacity by March 2022 for assembly of wind turbine components including towers.