Bids for two of four wind power zones off Mass. accepted

THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT has accepted bids on two plots off the coast of Martha's Vineyard for the development of wind energy projects.  / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/CHRIS RATCLIFFE
THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT has accepted bids on two plots off the coast of Martha's Vineyard for the development of wind energy projects. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/CHRIS RATCLIFFE

WASHINGTON – Two wind energy companies Thursday won bids to lease more than 354,000 acres of federal waters about 12 nautical miles off Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

RES America Developments Inc., headquartered in Colorado, and Offshore MW LLC, of New Jersey, were the only two companies to bid and were both named provisional winners of an auctioned held by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The auction was held in two rounds for four “zones” within the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area. RES America successfully bid on the first zone – 187,523 acres – located nearest Martha’s Vineyard. Offshore MW won the second zone, totaling 166,886 acres.

The two remaining zones – totaling 388,569 acres – received no bids.

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The bids totaled $448,171, but a separated breakdown wasn’t immediately available, according to the Interior Department.

“Offshore wind along the Atlantic holds great potential to help power our nation with renewable energy while adding jobs to the economy,” said Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, in a statement. “We look forward to working with Governor [Charlie] Baker and his administration during this important time for offshore wind development.”

Developing offshore wind is part of President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy to be produced on public lands and federal waters by 2020. Thursday’s auction was the fourth competitive lease sale for renewable energy in federal waters, according to the Interior.

Prior to Thursday’s lease sale, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had awarded five competitive wind energy leases off the Atlantic coast, including two off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts for Deepwater Wind New England LLC. The wind energy company, based in Rhode Island, was one of 12 companies approved to bid at Thursday’s auction, but opted not to participate.

“Last year, we won the nation’s first competitive offshore wind lease. Our site is the best in the U.S. It has the best combination of strong winds, buildable water depths and best proximity to multiple energy market,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski in a statement.

RES Americas is a subsidiary of RES Ltd., headquartered in the United Kingdom. The RES group, which includes subsidiaries in Canada and Chile, has constructed nearly 100 wind projects with a total capacity of more than 8,000 megawatts around the world, according to its website. In the United States, RES Americas has worked on developing wind projects in both California and Texas.

Offshore MW’s footprint is less extensive, but it’s affiliated with WindMW, headquartered in Germany, which just completed financing on a 288 megawatt project in the German North Sea with manufacturing, construction and planning underway.

The two awarded leases will have a preliminary term of one year, during which RES Americas and Offshore MW must submit an assessment plan – including details on meteorological towers and buoys – for bureau approval.

If the bureau approves the assessment plans, the two companies will have five years to submit a “Construction and Operations Plan,” detailing logistics for their energy projects. The bureau will then conduct an environmental review of the proposed project and the companies will have an operations term of 25 years, according to the Interior.

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