The U.S. Interior Dept. has completed a multi-day, 64-round auction of offshore wind development ocean areas in the New York Bight south of New York City and Long Island, NY, reporting $4.37 billion in winning bids for six lease sites totaling 488,000 acres. The department on Feb. 25 called the event “the highest-grossing competitive offshore energy lease sale in U.S. history, including oil and gas leases.”
The total was more than eight times the amount bid per acre in the last U.S. offshore wind site auction, in 2018, with 25 eligible bidders.
A venture of German energy firm RWE and National Grid bid $1.1 billion for the largest site, covering 125,000 acres.
Other winning bidders with team members: are Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Bight (EDF and Shell); Attentive Energy (EnBW and Total]; Invenergy Wind Offshore (a Chicago-based firm that did not disclose names); Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners); and OW Ocean Winds East (EDP Renewables and ENGIE).
See diagram below for more detail on team bids and locations
“It is illustrative of the level of interest that government incentives bring about a comparatively new industry,’’ Paul Patterson, an energy analyst for Glenrock Associates, told New Jersey Spotlight.
To finalize leases, bidders must provide financial assurances and “enhance engagement” with tribes, commercial fishing interests, other ocean users and underserved communities, Interior said. Incentives include use of domestic component manufacturers and union labor agreements.
Six teams out of 25 deemed eligible to bid are provisional winners of federal site leases
Credit: BOEM, US Interior Dept.
*Click on the image for greater detail
