B.I. Wind Farm makes a little more history
For the first time, ISO-New England has purchased capacity from an offshore renewable energy source: the Block Island Wind Farm.
During its annual auction, ISO-New England procured 6.8 megawatts of capacity from the wind farm, which is currently under construction. ISO-New England was created in 1997 to oversee the region’s electrical marketplace. What this esentially means is that 6.8 megawatts of capacity will be supplied to the New England market by the wind farm.
“The region’s procurement of capacity in the nation’s first offshore wind farm is another sign of the changes in New England,” Marcia Blomberg, Media Relations spokesperson at ISO-NE, told The Block Island Times. “The purpose of the (2016) capacity auction is to ensure that a reliable supply of electricity will be available to meet future peak demand for the region’s residents and businesses.”
According to its website, ISO-NE (Independent System Operators for the New England region) is a non-profit Regional Transmission Organization that ensures that a reliable flow of competitively priced wholesale electricity satisfies New England’s energy needs. ISO-NE held its annual capacity auction and filed its results with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Feb. 29.
In a press release regarding the auction, ISO-NE said its “finalized results confirm that ISO New England’s annual capacity auction concluded at a lower price than the previous auction and with sufficient resources, to meet demand in 2019–2020.” The release noted that for the first time ISO-NE would receive capacity from “the first offshore wind farm under construction in the U.S.”
