Section 83C Round IV Selection Announcement

DOER, the Executive Office of Economic Development, and the Distribution Companies have completed the evaluation of bids received in response to the Section 83C IV Offshore Wind Energy Generation request for proposals (“Section 83C IV RFP”), which was coordinated with Rhode Island and Connecticut. The bid evaluation process included monitoring and assistance by an Independent Evaluator.

DOER selected 1,087 MW of the 1,287 MW SouthCoast Wind multistate project, 791 MW of the 791 MW New England Wind 1 project, and up to 800 MW of the 1,200 MW Vineyard Wind 2 project. More information regarding the selection is available here.

The final acceptance of the bids and the award of contracts is conditional upon the successful negotiation of the contracts and required regulatory approvals.

Revised 83C Round IV Solicitation Schedule

The 83C Round 4 Evaluation Team is notifying stakeholders that they are extending the Bid Selection Date and all subsequent solicitation schedule dates by an additional thirty days, as detailed below.  The additional time is needed in order to consider any impacts to this solicitation from the recently announced federal grant to New England states through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Innovation Program (GIP) program for projects to invest in regional electric infrastructure to ready the onshore transmission system for offshore wind. The Evaluation Team also continues to coordinate the current Section 83C solicitation with the simultaneous solicitations ongoing in Connecticut and Rhode Island, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed between the states on October 3, 2023.

Revised 83C Round IV Solicitation Schedule

EventCurrent RFP DatesRevised Dates
Selection of Projects/Commence NegotiationsAugust 7, 2024September 6, 2024
Execute Long Term Contracts and MOU with DOEROctober 9, 2024November 8, 2024
Submit Long Term Contracts for DPU ApprovalNovember 13, 2024December 18, 2024

Section 83C IV RFP: Response to Bidder Question – Batch 7

In accordance with the 83C IV RFP for Long-term Contracts for Offshore Wind Energy Projects, prospective bidders were allowed to submit written questions to the Evaluation Team pertaining to the solicitation. All questions were to be submitted to the Evaluation Team at maRFP83C@gmail.com no later than October 17, 2023

The Evaluation Team has posted a response to a question, providing guidance to bidders regarding entries on the CPPD Form and the Bid Fee Submittal Form. Please find the response at the 83C IV Q&A page.

Section 83C IV RFP: Response to Bidder Question – Batch 6

In accordance with the 83C IV RFP for Long-term Contracts for Offshore Wind Energy Projects, prospective bidders were allowed to submit written questions to the Evaluation Team pertaining to the solicitation. All questions were to be submitted to the Evaluation Team at maRFP83C@gmail.com no later than October 17, 2023

The Evaluation Team has posted a response to a question, providing guidance to bidders regarding how to incorporate IRA tax credits as we await final Treasury guidance. Please find the response at the 83C IV Q&A page.