Deepwater Wind’s 30MW Block Island offshore wind project was selected in a 34GW New England capacity auction.
The wind farm committed to supply 6.8MW of capacity. Grid operator ISO New England ran the auction to procure generating resources to meet projected demand in 2019-20.
The annual auction closed at $7.03/kW after four rounds of competitive bidding. The generators will receive a monthly capacity payment as long as they produce the promised power when called on.
About 35,567MW of capacity cleared the auction to meet the demand forecast. That is comprised of 31,371MW of generation, including 1459MW of new generation, 2746MW of demand-side resources and 1450MW of imports from New York and Canada.
The capacity market is separate from the energy market, where resources compete on a daily basis to provide power and are paid for the electricity they produce.
Utility National Grid has agreed to buy the Block Island output at 24.4 cents/kWh under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Deepwater expects to install five GE Haliade 150 6MW turbines this summer and commission Block Island before the end of the year.
Image: construction at Block Island (Deepwater Wind)
