The funding went towards Blue Economy Initiative, a project led by SMAST and the MFI in order to conduct thorough research on the relations between wild fisheries and offshore wind development, with a focus on commercial fishing activities, over a five-year period.
[9] The concept was set forth in a plan offered by then Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri in 2006.
The aim of the Carcieri plan was to develop large-scale offshore wind projects in the south-eastern New England region of the United States, and in the State of Rhode Island, in a bid to diversify Rhode Island's power supply with renewable energy sources.
The ocean facility is planned to provide 1.3 million megawatt hours per year of renewable energy at its completion — 15 percent of all electricity used in the state.
[4][5] In 2009, Deepwater signed an agreement with National Grid to sell the power from the $200-million USD, 30-MW wind farm off Block Island, at an initial price of 24.4 ¢ USD/kW·h.