Story by By Nichola Groom • TODAY
(Reuters) -The Biden administration's sale of offshore wind development rights off the coast of California drew $757.1 million in high bids, mainly from European developers seeking a foothold in the domestic industry's expansion to the Pacific Ocean.
Related video: Bidding underway for wind energy leases off Morro BayDuration 0:38 View on Watch
Winners of the five leases were primarily divisions of European energy companies that are already developing projects in the U.S. offshore wind market.
The winners included Norway's Equinor ASA, Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Germany's RWE AG, Ocean Winds, which is a joint venture between France's Engie and Portugal's EDP Renewables, and U.S. developer Invenergy LLC.
The auction, which began on Tuesday and stretched into Wednesday, is part of the administration's plan to put wind turbines along every U.S. coastline to tackle climate change and create jobs.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Alexander Smith, Aurora Ellis and Nick Zieminski)
California offshore wind auction bids top $460 million on day two
(Reuters) - The first ever auction of offshore wind development rights off the coast of California entered its second day on Wednesday, with high bids topping $460 million.
FILE PHOTO: French President Macron visits the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm© Thomson Reuters
The Biden administration's sale is a major milestone in the its goal to put turbines along every U.S. coastline and a critical test of developer appetite for investment in floating wind turbines, an emerging technology necessary in locations where the ocean floor is too deep for fixed equipment.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is auctioning five lease areas equal to a combined 373,267 acres (151,056 hectares) off the state's north and central coasts. Previous federal offshore wind auctions have all been for leases in shallower waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
After 22 rounds of bidding, high bids totaled a combined $462.1 million. Two leases off the central coast had commanded high bids of more than $100 million, with the remaining leases attracting high bids in a range of $62.7 million to $98.8 million, according to live auction results on the BOEM web site.
The identities of the bidders are not disclosed during the auction, but 43 companies had been approved to participate.
They include established offshore wind players like Avangrid Inc, Orsted and Equinor, which are all developing projects on the U.S. East Coast, as well as potential new entrants including Swedish floating wind developer Hexicon and Macquarie unit Corio.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Alexander Smith)
(Reuters) - The first ever auction of offshore wind development rights off the coast of California entered its second day on Wednesday, with high bids topping $460 million.
FILE PHOTO: French President Macron visits the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm© Thomson Reuters
The Biden administration's sale is a major milestone in the its goal to put turbines along every U.S. coastline and a critical test of developer appetite for investment in floating wind turbines, an emerging technology necessary in locations where the ocean floor is too deep for fixed equipment.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is auctioning five lease areas equal to a combined 373,267 acres (151,056 hectares) off the state's north and central coasts. Previous federal offshore wind auctions have all been for leases in shallower waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Related video: “Offshore Wind Farm has Massive Gravity-based Foundations” (DeFiance)
Duration 1:11 View on Watch
After 22 rounds of bidding, high bids totaled a combined $462.1 million. Two leases off the central coast had commanded high bids of more than $100 million, with the remaining leases attracting high bids in a range of $62.7 million to $98.8 million, according to live auction results on the BOEM web site.
The identities of the bidders are not disclosed during the auction, but 43 companies had been approved to participate.
They include established offshore wind players like Avangrid Inc, Orsted and Equinor, which are all developing projects on the U.S. East Coast, as well as potential new entrants including Swedish floating wind developer Hexicon and Macquarie unit Corio.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Five companies will pay the feds $750 million for the opportunity to build huge floating wind turbines off the West Coast
Story by Ella Nilsen •
The Biden administration’s first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale for federal waters off the West Coast generated more than $750 million, as energy companies competed for five areas that could eventually be home to massive floating wind turbines.
Five companies, including Equinor and Invenergy, bid on five lease areas totaling more than 370,000 acres off the coast of Northern and Central California. The two-day lease sale concluded on Wednesday.
When developed, the leased areas near Morro Bay and Humboldt County have the potential to generate enough green energy for up to 1.6 million homes over the next decade, administration officials said last year.
The deep-water regions off the West Coast – and other coastal areas, including the Gulf of Maine – will require turbines to be installed on floating platforms and tethered to the sea floor. The platforms will also allow turbines to be installed farther from the coast.
In all, floating wind turbines off US coastlines could unlock up to 2.8 terawatts of clean energy in the future – more than double the country’s current electricity demand, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm estimated in September.
This week’s auction was ultimately not as lucrative as February’s offshore wind lease sale off the coast of the New York Bight, which drew a record $4.37 billion from six companies.
The New York lease sale “was just a perfect storm of all the right factors coming together to create a very, very expensive auction,” said John Begala, vice president for state and federal policy at nonprofit the Business Network for Offshore Wind. “I don’t see that happening again anytime soon.”
The lower bids in this week’s lease sale were due in part to the unique challenges of developing wind energy off the West Coast, Begala said. Because of the much deeper waters in Pacific, technology for floating offshore wind platforms is still being developed and tested.
But even with the challenges, Begala said there is massive potential with floating offshore wind – and an opportunity for the US to compete with Europe, which is also starting to develop floating offshore technologies.
“Not only is the potential massive for decarbonization on the West Coast, but there’s a huge economic potential here,” Begala said. “We have a lot of expertise here in the US when it comes to building floating offshore energy platforms; this is something we can do really well.”
The Biden administration has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, as well as 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035. In addition to the Pacific coast, the Gulf of Maine is being eyed for floating offshore projects.
White House national climate advisor Ali Zaidi said in a statement that the lease sale is part of “an unprecedented expansion in American clean energy production” and a “massive opportunity for the US economy.”
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Story by Ella Nilsen •
The Biden administration’s first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale for federal waters off the West Coast generated more than $750 million, as energy companies competed for five areas that could eventually be home to massive floating wind turbines.
Five companies, including Equinor and Invenergy, bid on five lease areas totaling more than 370,000 acres off the coast of Northern and Central California. The two-day lease sale concluded on Wednesday.
When developed, the leased areas near Morro Bay and Humboldt County have the potential to generate enough green energy for up to 1.6 million homes over the next decade, administration officials said last year.
The deep-water regions off the West Coast – and other coastal areas, including the Gulf of Maine – will require turbines to be installed on floating platforms and tethered to the sea floor. The platforms will also allow turbines to be installed farther from the coast.
In all, floating wind turbines off US coastlines could unlock up to 2.8 terawatts of clean energy in the future – more than double the country’s current electricity demand, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm estimated in September.
This week’s auction was ultimately not as lucrative as February’s offshore wind lease sale off the coast of the New York Bight, which drew a record $4.37 billion from six companies.
Related video: Bidding underway for wind energy leases off Morro Bay (KSBY Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, CA)Duration 0:38 View on Watch
The New York lease sale “was just a perfect storm of all the right factors coming together to create a very, very expensive auction,” said John Begala, vice president for state and federal policy at nonprofit the Business Network for Offshore Wind. “I don’t see that happening again anytime soon.”
The lower bids in this week’s lease sale were due in part to the unique challenges of developing wind energy off the West Coast, Begala said. Because of the much deeper waters in Pacific, technology for floating offshore wind platforms is still being developed and tested.
But even with the challenges, Begala said there is massive potential with floating offshore wind – and an opportunity for the US to compete with Europe, which is also starting to develop floating offshore technologies.
“Not only is the potential massive for decarbonization on the West Coast, but there’s a huge economic potential here,” Begala said. “We have a lot of expertise here in the US when it comes to building floating offshore energy platforms; this is something we can do really well.”
The Biden administration has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, as well as 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035. In addition to the Pacific coast, the Gulf of Maine is being eyed for floating offshore projects.
White House national climate advisor Ali Zaidi said in a statement that the lease sale is part of “an unprecedented expansion in American clean energy production” and a “massive opportunity for the US economy.”
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
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