Two wind energy leases offshore of the Delmarva region brought in nearly $93 million in an Aug. 14 auction by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
After several bidding rounds with six companies, Department of Interior officials said Equinor Wind US LLC provisionally won Lease OCS-A 0557 for $75,001,001, comprised of 101,443 acres about 26 nautical miles from Delaware Bay.
Virginia Electric and Power Co. got Lease OCS-A 0558, paying $17,650,500 for 176,505 acres around 35 nm from the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
The sale included over $23 million total bidding credits. “These bidding credits will result in over $11 million in investments for workforce training and domestic supply chain, and an additional $11 million for fisheries compensatory mitigation,” according to the agency announcement.
Equinor officials said their lease has potential to develop a project with a nameplate rating around 2 gigawatts, with a maximum potential for powering 900,000 homes.
Equinor is developing its Empire Wind 1 project off New York, and building a major support base at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
“Equinor’s interest in this auction is consistent with our approach to pursue attractive offshore wind opportunities in the United States. The Central Atlantic region has a rapidly growing demand for electricity with widespread support for adding renewable sources of energy into the power mix,” said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas.
The Biden administration says it’s not done yet with potential future leasing off the central Atlantic states.
“BOEM will also continue to convene the Central Atlantic Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force to enhance collaboration and to explore and identify potential additional areas for future offshore wind leasing,” according to an agency statement.
“These ongoing intergovernmental efforts include a June 2024 Memorandum of Understanding that outlines joint work by the Biden-Harris administration and the State of Maryland to evaluate additional areas off Maryland’s shores that could become wind energy areas and support the development of offshore wind projects.”
