BOEM awards more offshore wind space due east of Delaware

Less than a month after announcing the availability of the final environmental impact statement for a proposed wind project offshore from Maryland, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced the results of a wind energy auction for two lease areas offshore from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

According to a press release from BOEM, the sale, which took place Aug. 14, was the first in the region in a decade and resulted in two provisional winners totaling $92.65 million in successful bids.

Norwegian-based Equinor Wind US LLC provisionally won Lease OCS-A 0557 at roughly $75 million, which consists of 101,443 acres and is approximately 26 nautical miles from Delaware Bay. Virginia Electric and Power Co. provisionally won Lease OCS-A 0558 at roughly $17.7 million, which consists of 176,505 acres and is approximately 35 nm from the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. Six companies participated in the auction.

“Equinor’s interest in this auction is consistent with our approach to pursue attractive offshore wind opportunities in the United States,” said Molly Morris, Equinor Renewables US president, in a prepared statement shortly after the announcement was made. “The Central Atlantic region has a rapidly growing demand for electricity with widespread support for adding renewable sources of energy into the power mix.”

Headquartered in Norway, Equinor is the leading operator on the Norwegian continental shelf and is present in around 30 countries worldwide. The company is already working on construction of an offshore wind farm in the ocean waters off New York – at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal – and offshore work underway to support the Empire Wind 1 project. 

According to Equinor, the 2-gigawatt lease will have the capacity to produce enough energy to power approximately 900,000 U.S. homes.

The leases awarded Aug. 14 do not authorize the construction or operation of an offshore wind facility, said the press release. Rather, and similar to the process taking place with US Wind and Ørsted for existing leases near Delaware, a lease provides the right to submit a project plan for BOEM’s review. BOEM will develop an environmental impact statement to analyze the specific impacts of any project proposals before making decisions on whether to approve a proposed construction and operations plan.

Offshore wind procurement bill not yet signed by the governor

On the final day of the legislative session that ended June 30, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 265, which creates an offshore wind procurement process for the state. As of Aug. 22, the governor had not signed that piece of legislation into law.

SB 265 authorizes a process for consideration of a wind solicitation that includes assessment of the market, consultation with the Renewable Energy Task Force, and review and approval by the Public Service Commission, including public comment – all with the goal of getting the best deal for Delawareans, said Jim Lee, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control spokesperson. The bill will be signed by the governor soon, he said. 

With the new lease area and uncommitted portions of current lease areas, there is more than enough potential offshore wind capacity in the mid-Atlantic to meet the goals of Delaware and its neighboring states, said Lee. The state energy office can factor the new lease area into its assessment as to whether the time and price are right for Delaware to seek a wind procurement, he said.