US contractor Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA) has secured a deal to build the up to 250MW Blooming Grove wind farm in Illinois.

The project, which is located in McLean County, is being developed by Invenergy and will comprise 94 turbines from an unnamed supplier.

Work on the wind farm has been underway since September and is expected to be completed in late 2020.

The scope of IEA’s work includes construction of roads, foundations and installation of turbines.

White Construction, a division of IEA that performs the construction of heavy civil infrastructure projects, secured the contract.

IEA chief executive JP Roehm said the Illinois project is an excellent example of the size and scope of wind farm developments completed, underway or planned across much of the US.

“Momentum in wind energy is substantial across more than a dozen states and in several regions of the country, providing IEA both strong demand and geographic diversity,” Roehm said. “We expect activity to remain robust in 2020 and beyond.”

IEA has assembled more than 7200 wind turbines across North America.

The north-east US state of Massachusetts has chosen Mayflower Wind to develop an 804MW offshore wind farm, following bid submissions filed in August.

The project, located more than 20 miles south of Nantucket, is expected to start operations in 2025, according to the developer.

Having presented the state with several bid options for the project with progressive levels of investment, Massachusetts chose Mayflower’s low-cost energy proposal which achieves long-term prices below the original price cap of $84.23 (€75.47) per megawatt hour.

The wind farm will enable a $3.7bn electricity rate reduction over the term of the contract, according to Mayflower.

The wind farm, during its lifecycle will create up 10,000 jobs in Massachusetts, including both offshore jobs and onshore opportunities, said the developer.

Mayflower Wind president John Hartnett said: “Mayflower Wind is proud to have been selected to provide low cost renewable energy to Massachusetts.

“Development of the Mayflower Wind project will contribute to the building of an offshore supply chain on the south coast and across the Commonwealth, helping to launch a new clean, safe and innovative sector of our economy. We look forward to working with all of our stakeholders to ensure a safe and successful project.”

Mayflower Wind also has provided the same competitive pricing solution to Connecticut under its current procurement process for offshore wind, matching the objective of securing low cost renewable energy articulated in the State’s energy plan.

Business Network for Offshore Wind chief executive Liz Burdock said: “This is evidence that the US offshore wind industry is becoming a mainstream clean energy source for US coastal states, and the opportunity for the US-based supply chain is only going to grow.

“It also underscores that states’ energy procurement policies, like those of Massachusetts, are vital for the nation’s transition to a clean energy economy.”

According to Burdock the selection of Mayflower Wind, which is a joint venture between oil and gas giant Shell and Portuguese utility EDP Renewables, demonstrates the “rush to fuel supply diversification”.

She added, “This team will bring regulatory expertise and use a supply chain that will expand across America.”

Vineyard Wind, which is developing the 800MW Vineyard Wind 1 project off the coast of Massachusetts, also submitted a bid under the state’s latest offshore wind solicitation.

Chief executive Lars Pedersen said, “While today’s decision is disappointing, we remain fully committed to delivering the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States to Massachusetts, and will continue to grow our company in the Commonwealth.

“Congratulations to Mayflower Wind on their winning bid, we look forward to working with them and other developers to engage with stakeholders across the region.

“We commend the Baker-Polito Administration and the Massachusetts Legislature for their continued commitment to renewable energy and plans to pursue another 1600MW of offshore wind for Massachusetts in the coming years.”

Next, Mayflower Wind and the state will negotiate long-term power contracts by mid-December, and for long-term contracts to be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities for approval in January 2020.

The US has launched an initiative to develop a set of standards for the offshore wind sector.

The three-year project is a collaboration between the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Business Network for Offshore Wind and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

An Offshore Wind Technical Advisory Panel comprising industry stakeholders has been formed and will guide the scope of activities for a group of new technical sub-working groups, which will develop the standards.

The proposed sub-groups cover the updating of the AWEA’s 2012 offshore compliance recommended practices, floating offshore turbines, geotechnical data requirements and met-ocean requirements for US waters.

The standards, which will be recognized by the American National Standards Institute, will allow BOEM to “adopt better requirements that reflect the latest industry best practices”.

NREL principal engineer and chairman of the Offshore Wind Standards working group Walt Musial said: “These standards and guidelines will form the basis for BOEM to establish transparent compliance requirements that will help industry in turn provide safe and reliable offshore wind facilities that serve the US electric supply.”

Vestas wins 168 MW order in Mexico

News release from Vestas Mediterranean
Madrid, 26 September 2019

Vestas has secured a 168 MW order for a wind park in Mexico. The order derives from a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) and includes the supply and installation of 42 wind turbines of the 4 MW platform with V150 rotors. The order also includes an Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement for the operation and maintenance of the wind park over the next five years.

The 73-metre long blades of the Vestas 150m rotors will be locally manufactured in the TPI Composites factory in Matamoros, which provides Vestas with blades for the increasing number of V136 and V150 orders that the company is receiving in Mexico and Latin America. The turbine towers will also be produced by local suppliers.

“This order showcases how Vestas’ technology can meet the increasing demand of private Mexican companies for clean, reliable and competitive energy”, says Agustín Sánchez-Tembleque, General Manager of Vestas México.

Vestas pioneered the Mexican wind energy market when it installed the first commercial wind turbine in 1994. Since then, Vestas has accumulated over 2,3 GW of installed capacity or under construction in the country.