Wind power in Massachusetts

Green Communities Act (2008): created a commission to provide technical and financial support to reduce energy costs, strengthen local economies, and support renewable energy efforts.[2]

Green Jobs Act (2008): created the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), which is a state authority designated for “job development and economic development in the clean energy sector.” The Act created the Alternative and Clean Energy Investment Trust Fund to further this economic development.[18]

Global Warming Solutions Act (2008): requires reduction in 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels to 25% by 2020, and at least an 80% reduction by 2050. Policy information and figures depicting state progress can be viewed on the Mass.gov website.[19]

The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal is the first hub in the country designed for the deployment of offshore wind farms.[20] The terminal is managed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center which supports the fabrication and implementation of offshore wind projects and the transportation of large scale marine cargo. The Terminal contains 26 acres of storage space that can be used by businesses and to aid shipping and transportation. It has access roads to two highways, I-495 and I-95, and is accessible from other ports.[21]

The Massachusetts Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown is managed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The center offers testing for blades up to 90 meters long and different prototyping methods in order to support the production and installation of land and offshore wind turbines. The blade testing is required for turbines to meet international qualifications and to be certified for use.[22]

In July 2015, the administration of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that Baker filed legislation to require the state to procure 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power, as well as 1,200 megawatts of hydropower.[23] In March 2016, the legislation received the endorsement of all three of the Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretaries of the Deval Patrick administration,[24] and the following August, Baker signed the legislation into law.[25] In September 2016, Baker's administration announced that the offshore wind companies Deepwater Wind, DONG Energy, and OffshoreMW agreed to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal built during the Patrick administration as a staging area for their projects.[26] In June 2017, Massachusetts utilities issued the first RFP under the energy diversification law signed by Baker in August 2016,[27] and the following month, five major bids were submitted.[28]

In May 2018, Baker's administration selected Vineyard Wind to construct an 800-megawatt offshore wind farm off the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard,[29] and the following October, Vineyard Wind announced that it had signed an 18-month lease to also conduct their staging operations at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.[30] In December 2018, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced the sale of three wind lease plots of 390,000 acres of ocean south of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard to Equinor Wind, Mayflower Wind Energy, and Vineyard Wind for a national record of $405 million that the agency estimated could generate as much as 4,100 megawatts of wind power.[31]

An Offshore Wind Study published in mid-2020 analyzed procuring an additional 1.6 GW of off-shore capacity in addition to the 1.6 GW already in progress.[32]

In late 2020, the Baker Administration released a Decarbonization Roadmap that aims for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan calls for major investments in offshore wind and solar energy.[33][34]

The following table shows the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in MW for Massachusetts since 1999.[35][36][37][38][39]

Offshore Wind Power Capacity

In early 2010, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released the first comprehensive update of wind energy potential by state since 1993, showing that Massachusetts had potential to install 1,028 MW of onshore wind power, using 80 meter high wind turbines,[40] and 1,913 MW of 100 MW wind turbines could achieve 30% or better capacity factor - and of those, almost 500 MW could reach a capacity factor of 40%.[41]

In 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) contracted Navigant Consulting to determine new locations of potential wind turbine sites throughout the state. The study identified 44 locations with 947 MW of potential power. The locations are centrally focused in the Berkshire and Barnstable counties.[42] The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has this information publicly available with a Wind Energy Site Screening Tool.[43]

The Massachusetts state government regulatory actions and financial incentives in the energy sector extend to wind energy policy. In May 2017, the Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development Act or the Offshore WIND Act (S.1102) was introduced in the Senate. The bill proposes to add a tax credit for investments in property with “qualified offshore wind properties.” According to Congressional terminology, facilities are determined qualified if they use wind power to produce electricity and located in United States navigable waters. In order to obtain the tax credit, wind property construction would need to occur before January 1, 2026.[44] As of October 2017, the Bill has not been passed.