Joint State Innovation Partnership for Offshore Wind
Together, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are an example of outstanding offshore wind leadership. Their collaboration on joint development of offshore wind transmission will enable the industry to scale, maximize the benefits of offshore wind to the grid, and minimize costs and environmental impacts. Their project consists of phased development of modular high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems able to connect multiple wind farms to strategic points of interconnection (POIs) on the terrestrial grid. As technology advances, the modular HVDC systems will be incorporated into a multi-terminal ocean grid that will strengthen resiliency and enable power from offshore wind – and other ocean resources – to be delivered when and where it is needed. A New England Ocean grid could then be integrated with offshore wind transmission systems along the Atlantic Coast and in Canada to form a transmission ‘backbone,’ which the Department of Energy has determined would provide multiple economic and environmental benefits.
The Joint Partnership addresses a key challenge in scaling offshore wind beyond initial projects and demonstrates a substantial contribution to the betterment of the offshore wind industry. Utilizing shared transmission to integrate multiple wind farms can reduce the required transmission cables and associated infrastructure, environmental impacts, and project costs and avoid existing transmission system limitations that can be encountered in a serial approach, addressing a material risk to continued large scale offshore wind development. New England states are poised to execute an innovative and collaborative approach to solve a significant challenge facing the offshore wind industry: how to continue interconnecting offshore wind in a manner that enables achievement of overall offshore wind deployment goals at the lowest cost and with the least impact on the environment, fisheries, and affected communities. The Joint Partnership is the result of an extensive and inclusive process to analyze challenges and solutions and incorporate input from industry, the public, and key stakeholders.
