TWO DEVELOPERS purchased four deepwater offshore wind lease areas off the New England coast on Tuesday, but four others went unclaimed.
Avangrid, the biggest player in New England offshore wind development, purchased two lease areas 30 miles east of Cape Cod for a total of nearly $11.2 million.
The other winning bidder was Invenergy NE Offshore Wind, which paid a total of $10.78 million for two lease areas – one 22 miles east of Cape Cod and the other 46 miles off the coast of Maine.
The lease areas are in deep water where floating turbines will have to be used.
“Securing these lease areas provides a unique opportunity to advance our growing business at a significant value, and reinforces our unwavering commitment to helping the New England region meet its growing need for reliable, clean energy,” said Pedro Azagra, the CEO of Avangrid.
Avangrid said the lease areas “offer strong wind speeds; relatively shallow waters within the limits of existing floating wind technology; access to multiple interconnection points; and are largely deconflicted from other ocean users following a rigorous federal public engagement process.”
Avangrid is co-developer of Vineyard Wind 1, a wind farm south of Nantucket that is struggling to get back on track after suffering a turbine blade failure and then having to remove several other turbine blades. Avangrid earlier this year won a procurement to build another wind farm called New England Wind 1 adjacent to Vineyard Wind 1. Final pricing for that deal hasn’t been announced yet.
The leases announced Tuesday by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management allow the companies to submit a wind farm project for federal review. The lease sale came one week before a presidential election that many believe could be pivotal for offshore wind since Donald Trump has announces that he intends to shut down the offshore wind industry if he is elected.