A new study by the University of Delaware's Special Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW) reports that a commitment by Massachusetts to develop offshore wind energy at a scale of 2,000MW, combined with ongoing technology and industry advances, will lower previously projected costs for the clean energy source by as much as 55 per cent in the next decade.
SIOW surveyed industry experts in the region to analyse what electricity costs would look like with 2,000MW of offshore wind energy off Massachusetts' coast from 2020-2030. The study's key finding is that developing offshore wind energy at scale rather than on a project-by-project basis will lead to costs "far lower than previously contracted prices for offshore wind in the New England region," with "continuing downward trajectory in cost over the decade" as OSW is built out. Previously proposed offshore wind energy projects in New England have had a "levelised cost of energy" (LCOE) above 24¢/kWh. The study says that costs for the first project in a 2,000MW build-out of offshore wind energy will be much lower – 16.2¢/kWh. Further, costs will continue to decline and the last of these projects will reach a very competitive LCOE of 10.8¢/kWh.
