Photo: Avangrid
The first sale of a floating wind turbine on the Atlantic coast in the Gulf of Maine resulted in two short-term wins and bids of $21.9 million, with four leases awarded.
The first floating sale of air on the Atlantic coast
The Biden-Harris administration announced that Avangrid Renewables and Invenergy NE Offshore Wind emerged as the winners after one round of bidding. Avangrid received two leases for a total of $11.17 million – these properties cover approximately 223,500 hectares and are located 29.5 kilometers from the coast of Massachusetts. They could deliver nearly 3 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy to the New England region.
Invenergy also acquired two leases, totaling more than 215,600 acres, with winning bids totaling $10.78 million. One location is 46 miles from Maine, and the other is 21.6 miles from Massachusetts. Together, these areas have the potential to provide renewable electricity to more than 2.3 million homes.
Avangrid's portfolio on the East Coast has now grown significantly, with more than 5 GW of offshore wind capacity planned – enough to power more than 2 million homes. The company is involved in projects such as Vineyard Wind 1, New England Wind 1 and 2, and Kitty Hawk Wind South. With these new leases, Avangrid now owns the largest offshore wind development portfolio in the Northeast region.
In terms of deploying those floating wind turbines in the Atlantic, Avangrid claims it is in a position to use the global technology of its parent company, Iberdrola, which is pioneering floating offshore wind in Europe.
The Gulf of Maine wind lease sale is part of the Biden-Harris administration's plan to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030 and 15 GW of offshore wind by 2035. Since his tenure, the administration has approved 10 offshore wind projects. – from zero – that when combined can power more than 5 million homes. It also conducted six offshore wind lease auctions, including the first for the Pacific and Gulf Coasts.
Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic Network, said: “Today's successful auction shows that offshore wind will continue to play a leading role in the North East's energy future. These leases will bring good-paying, domestic jobs, and drive greater investment in manufacturing facilities, ports, and logistics development. Despite the general uncertainty of the upcoming presidential election, this is a vote of confidence for the American industry that has already received nearly $3 billion in new supply chain investments in the first nine months of 2024.”
Electrek's Take
When it comes to the big picture of wind on the beach, Electrek It was reported last month that global wind turbine order intake reached an all-time high in the first half of 2024, with 91.2 GW of activity, an increase of 23% year-on-year, due to the Asia-Pacific region, according to analysis from – Wood Mackenzie. .
Global offshore wind activity grew in the first half of 2024, but the offshore sector struggled, with orders down 38% year-on-year in the first half (-4.1 GW), as challenging project economics curbed the market.
Luke Lewandowski, vice president, global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie, noted that “the marine market has around 30 conditional orders worldwide, 21 GW of which are projects in Europe and the US, but the economy the challenger continues to delay the transformation into a strong company. commands.”
So today's auction announcement is history – putting a floating wind turbine on the Gulf of Maine coast was only an idea four years ago. However, only four of the eight sites attracted the highest bids, which is not surprising given the current challenges facing the US offshore wind crisis and a tight election, where one candidate threatens to undermine the industry.
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