Bay State Wind, a 50-50 partnership of Ørsted, a Danish-based offshore wind farm developer and Massachusetts-based Eversource, has entered into a letter of intent to work with Massachusetts-based NEC Energy Solutions for the battery storage component of a New England offshore wind project.
In December, Bay State Wind disclosed that it submitted a bid in response to Massachusetts’ first request for proposals for offshore wind energy generation. At the time, Bay State Wind noted that the project will include battery storage.
The project calls for an 800-megawatt wind farm with a 55-MW/110 MWh energy storage system. Once complete, the South Coast region of Massachusetts will host what Bay State Wind says will be the world’s largest wind-paired energy storage system for commercial scale energy.
Bay State Wind said that NEC Energy Solutions’ expertise in developing flexible battery storage solutions will further Bay State Wind’s efforts to help the region in overcoming winter reliability challenges by delivering energy when it is needed most and help to reduce winter peak energy prices and price volatility.
It is estimated that the annual winter price reduction would be approximately $158 million per year “and will enhance grid stability by shifting energy delivery to meet demand profile,” Bay State Wind said.
The Bay State Wind project will be located 25 miles off the Massachusetts South Coast and 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
NEC Energy Solutions supplied batteries for a Sterling Municipal Light Department utility-scale energy storage project in Massachusetts.
