Vineyard Wind paid for guaranteeing future electricity production

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2016 file photo, three of Deepwater Wind's five turbines stand in the water off Block Island, R.I, the nation's first offshore wind farm. An offshore wind project off the island of Martha's Vineyard, off the Massachusetts coast, that would create 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes, was approved by the federal government Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The Vineyard Wind project, south of Martha's Vineyard near Cape Cod, would be the first utility-scale wind power development in federal waters. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) Michael Dwyer

By DAVID BROOKS

Monitor staff

Published: 02-21-2024 3:46 PM

The nation’s first major offshore wind farm, the under-construction Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts, has shown up in an important, if obscure, location.

The project is one of more than 900 energy providers of various types who won bids to receive payments in the annual forward capacity auction, which is used by ISO-New England to ensure that there will be enough electricity to meet regional demand in three years. Bidders receive payments in return for guaranteeing they can produce a certain amount of power on demand.

Vineyard Wind won bids to guarantee production of 235 megawatts starting in June 2026 and 495 megawatts as of October 2026. Its annual capacity payments will exceed $2.5 million; it will also be paid per-kilowatt for electricity that it produces.

Vineyard Wind isn’t the first offshore wind farm to be in New England’s capacity auction; Block Island Wind off Rhode Island has been in the program for several years. But when its construction is finished, probably this year, Vineyard Wind will be more than 25 times the size of Block Island, marking America’s long-overdue entry into the global offshore-wind industry.