Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration will offer
leases next year for wind-energy development off the coasts of
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia, the Interior
Department said.
The agency, which oversees energy development in federal
waters more than 3 miles from shore, set aside 277,550 acres
divided into two wind-energy areas on the outer continental
shelf, according to a statement today. The two areas are
estimated to support more than 4,000 megawatts of wind power,
enough for 1.4 million homes, Interior said.
The auctions will be the first competitive sales for wind
energy on the outer continental shelf, where no projects are yet
operating, according to the agency. The sales differ from leases
previously awarded to Cape Wind Associates LLC and NRG Energy
Inc. for projects in Massachusetts and Delaware because those
areas were deemed non-competitive by Interior, enabling a single
developer to negotiate the leases in each case.
Developers that have shown interest in leases in the two
areas include European energy companies Iberdrola SA and
Electricity de France SA, U.S. utility holding company Dominion
Resources Inc., closely held developers Deepwater Wind LLC and
Apex Wind Energy Inc., as well as Energy Management Inc., Cape
Wind’s parent, according to Interior’s website.
The Virginia area will be auctioned as a single lease
encompassing 112,800 acres about 23.5 nautical miles off the
southern coast of the state and is expected to support a project
of as large as 2,000 megawatts, according to the statement. The
annual rent for the space will be $338,397, according to lease
documents.
Sale Timing
The second area will be auctioned as two leases covering
about 164,750 acres about 9.2 nautical miles south of the Rhode
Island coastline, Interior said. A north and south zone will
encompass 97,500 acres and 67,250 acres and require yearly rent
payments of $292,494 and $201,756, respectively, according to
lease documents. Both are expected to support projects of as
much as 1,000 megawatts, Interior said.
The sale will be conducted next year after a 60-day comment
period that will end in February, according to the statement.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at
aherndon2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
