New Offshore Wind Farm In Massachusetts May Partner With Tesla

Massachusetts is looking to expand their reach in the green energy movement by seeking out renewable energy generated at sea. Offshore wind turbines are gaining popularity, but all come with one big question: Who, or what, is going to power them? In this case, Deepwater Wind is proposing that Tesla's batteries do the job.

Of course, this wouldn't be Tesla's first move into the realm of wind energy. In fact, Tesla has already made strides in the movement of backing up renewable energy with their Powerpack facilities. For example, they will be installing the world’s biggest battery storage area in South Australia this fall to aid in a local wind farm’s efficiency issues.

In their own right, Deepwater Wind has been a leader in pushing the United States toward offshore wind power generation. They were behind the Block Island Wind Farm that’s located off the coast of Rhode Island. This was the first offshore wind farm activated in the US and serves roughly 2,000 customers that reside in Block Island. Deepwater Wind’s headquarters are located at Providence, Rhode Island.

Among the many projects Deepwater Wind is looking at, the newest submission is a utility-scale offshore wind farm next to Massachusetts. Called the Revolution Wind, the 144-megawatt wind farm would also be paired with a 40-megawatt battery backup system by Tesla. Two other submissions were also put forward by the company, a larger (288 megawatts) and smaller (96 megawatts) version, based on how other New England states respond to the news.

Jeffrey Grybowski, Deepwater Wind’s CEO, said in the press release that he was confident in the submission based on low costs and how reliable it will be thanks to the battery backup system. He also boasted on how “flexible and scalable” the project can be, stating,“We can build a larger project if other New England states want to participate now or we can start smaller to fit into the region’s near-term energy gaps. And our pricing at any size will be very competitive with the alternatives.”

Should the project be approved next January, construction is planned to begin in 2022 and switched on a year later. It’ll be located 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, more specifically 12 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. This is expected to be the first of many projects at the site, which “has the potential to host two gigawatts of offshore wind energy” according to the company’s press release.

Not much is known on Tesla’s side of Revolution Wind outside of capacity. They’re expected to start and finish a 100-megawatt battery backup project in South Australia late in the fall, aiming for a completion date of December 1st. This record-breaking Powerpack facility hopes to fix numerous blackout issues the region has faced since being damaged by massive storms last fall.

Tesla may be focused on the solar industry, but they could be doing a lot for wind power generation in the near future. Storage is the clear solution to fix one of renewable energy’s nagging issues, although based on expected dates of installation, we’re quite a few years away from relying on it.