A major offshore wind project in the Massachusetts pipeline"is no longer viable and would not be able to move forward" under the terms of contracts filed in May and now both developers behind the state's next two offshore wind projects are asking state regulators to pause review of the contracts for one month amid price increases, supply shortages and interest rate hikes.
"As has been publicly reported in recent weeks, global commodity price increases, in part due to ongoing war in Ukraine, sharp and sudden increases in interest rates, prolonged supply chain constraints, and persistent inflation have significantly increased the expected cost of constructing the Project.
"A one month suspension would enable the parties to consider potential approaches to help ensure these offshore wind projects are economic and financeable under the PPAs. That assurance is especially important in this case, because the Projects are among the few first-mover offshore wind projects in the region.
Commonwealth Wind said that"the IRA benefits to the Project are not fully known at this time and not anticipated to make the Project economic absent other changes to the PPAs," but told DPU that it"believes there may be potential opportunities to share benefits associated with the IRA with ratepayers and would be willing to explore those opportunities with stakeholders."
Offshore wind is the most expensive power in the world. High cost. High risk. Capacity Factor 1/2 that of nuclear plant. Happy talk boondoggle. Money could be used to bring more nat-gas into New England and build high efficiency nat-gas plants.