Delmarva Power selects six companies for onshore wind farm talks
Delmarva Power said Wednesday that it has selected six companies with
which to negotiate contracts for 460 MW of power from onshore wind farms.
Delmarva had 31 offers in response to a solicitation for alternatives to
a power purchase agreement with Bluewater Wind, an offshore wind developer.
That PPA, tabled in December and still under debate, was the result of a
state law that required Delmarva to contract for power produced in the state.
All but 50 MW from the selected bids would be from wind farms built in
Maryland and Pennsylvania, Gary Stockbridge, Delmarva president, said. All the
energy and renewable energy credits would be from new projects, he said.
Delmarva plans to buy 310 MW of the power. The remaining 150 MW would be
bought by 12 cooperative utilities in Delaware and Virginia. Of that 310 MW,
some 160 MW would be for standard offer service customers and 150 MW for
customers who have chosen other providers.
Delmarva declined to release the names of the winning bidders or the
prices the proposed for the 15- to 20-year contracts until after negotiations
are completed at the end of May. All but 40 MW of the selected bids do not
contain price escalators, Stockbridge said.
The bids selected would provide $80 million in annual savings to
customers over the Bluewater proposal, which is for 450 MW, and would have the
renewable power available about five years earlier, Stockbridge said.
The onshore projects would come online in 2009 and 2010. The 310 MW
earmarked for Delmarva would fulfill its obligation to buy renewable power
through 2017, he said.
7 May 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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