Avangrid Renewables is the third largest wind generator in the U.S. with nearly 70 operational wind and solar facilities in 22 states. With every new project, Avangrid Renewables renews its industry-leading commitment to building the global clean energy economy. It isn’t just about delivering clean energy to the public and private utilities and commercial and industrial customers we serve; it is about delivering on the promise of a better energy future, using the abundant renewable resources we have here at home.
Avangrid Renewables is one of the leading providers of clean, renewable wind power in the U.S. with more than 7,800 MW of owned and controlled wind and solar power facilities. In 2020, we continued to add new clean energy generation capacity to the grid. The company completed construction of three new wind projects with a total capacity of nearly 620 MW:
• 158 MW Otter Creek Wind Farm in LaSalle County, Illinois
• 155 MW Tatanka Ridge Wind Farm in Deuel County, South Dakota*
• 306 MW La Joya Wind Farm in Torrance County, New Mexico
During 2020, Renewables executed over 750 MW of new power purchase agreements, which will drive the construction of additional new clean energy projects in the years ahead. Avangrid Renewables also added 366 MW of generation capacity through repowering. “Repowering” refers to a process wherein the company evaluates existing wind facilities and implements upgrades that enable the generation of even more clean energy from the company’s existing footprint. This provides an opportunity to extend the life of existing facilities while maximizing clean power generation. In addition to Avangrid Renewables’ nationwide onshore wind and solar footprint, the company is also a leader in the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry. Both on- and offshore, 2020 saw tremendous progress on many projects.
VINEYARD WIND
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). The joint venture’s first project, Vineyard Wind 1, will have a capacity of 800 MW and be located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. In 2020, the project made significant progress toward delivering clean energy to Massachusetts. Set to become the first U.S. commercial offshore wind project when it begins operation, the project will use GE’s Haliade-X wind turbine generators, the most powerful offshore wind turbine to date.
The project will provide enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years and reduce electricity rates by $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation; it is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year.*
Vineyard Wind is expected to receive the Record of Decision from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the primary federal permit required to begin construction, in April of 2021. Construction is expected to commence in 2021, and the project is anticipated to begin delivering energy in 2023.
PARK CITY WIND
The Vineyard Wind joint venture is also developing the Park City Wind project to supply clean energy to Connecticut. Selected in 2019 by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in a competitive solicitation process for offshore wind facilities, the 804 MW project would provide approximately 14% of Connecticut’s electricity supply and avoid emitting 25 million tons of carbon emissions in the state over the life of the project.**
The proposed offshore wind development is named after the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, widely referred to as the Park City, and has the potential to establish Bridgeport as an American hub for the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry.
Vineyard Wind is dedicated to making Bridgeport home to Park City Wind’s operations and maintenance hub for the 25+-year life of the project, bringing with it long-term jobs and generating millions of dollars in direct expenditures.
The Park City Wind project has committed to invest up to $12 million to redevelop an 18.3-acre waterfront industrial property in Bridgeport. A renovated Barnum Landing property will host hundreds of local workers hired to do steel fabrication and final outfitting. This labor-intensive work will create new, well-paying union jobs along with a trained workforce prepared for future offshore wind projects, all in support of building valuable Connecticut-based offshore wind capabilities.
KITTY HAWK OFFSHORE WIND
Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind is a proposed 2,500 MW offshore wind project to be located approximately 27 miles from the shore of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and is wholly owned by Avangrid Renewables. When fully built out, the project is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 700,000 homes.*
In December 2020, Avangrid Renewables submitted a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as part of the federal permitting process for the project’s first phase. The COP sets forth the results of an economic impact study, commissioned by Avangrid Renewables and conducted by the Public Strategy Group, which anticipates that the project will drive approximately $2 billion in economic activity and create hundreds of jobs between 2021 and 2030 with the buildout of the project.
The first phase of the project, anticipated to begin construction as soon as 2024, will have the capacity to generate approximately 800 MW of electricity.
