California offshore wind auction ends with bids for five lease areas totalling $757.1m
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s wind energy auction for five leases offshore California – the first for the country’s Pacific region – drew competitive high bids from five companies totalling $757.1m.
The sale offered five lease areas covering 373,268 total acres off central and northern California. The leased areas have the potential to produce over 4.6 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.
Provisional winners in the Humboldt wind energy area off northern California were: RWE Offshore Wind Holdings with a bid of $157.7m for a 63,338-acre area (Lease OCS-P 0561); and California North Floating with a bid of $173.8m for 69,031 acres (Lease OCS-P 0562).
Off the coast of central California in Morro Bay, winning bidders were: Equinor Wind US with a bid of $130m for 80,062 acres (Lease OCS-P 0563); Central California Offshore Wind with a bid of $150.3m for 80,418 acres (Lease OCS-P 0564); and Invenergy California Offshore with a bid of $145.3m for 80,418 acres (Lease OCS-P 0565).
The lease sale included a 20% credit for bidders who committed to a monetary contribution to programs or initiatives that support workforce training programs for the floating offshore wind industry, the development of a US domestic supply chain for the floating offshore wind energy industry, or both. This credit will result in over $117m in investments.
The auction also included 5% credits for bidders who committed to entering community benefit agreements (CBAs). The first type of agreement is a Lease Area Use CBA with communities, stakeholder groups or Tribal entities whose use of the lease areas or use of the resources harvested from the lease areas is expected to be impacted by offshore wind development. The second type of agreement is a General CBA with communities, Tribes or stakeholder groups that are expected to be affected by the potential impacts on the marine, coastal or human environment from lease development.
Under stipulations in the leases, lessees are required to engage with Tribes, ocean users and local communities that may be affected by their lease activities. Lessee engagement must allow for early and active information sharing, focused discussion of potential issues and collaborative identification of solutions. These communication and engagement activities must be routinely reported to BOEM. These lease stipulations are intended to promote offshore wind energy development in a way that coexists with other ocean uses, addresses potential impacts and benefits and protects the ocean environment.
