California first offshore wind auction surpasses $500 million (updated)

Hexicon AB

07/12/2022 18:06

(Adds quote from White House official, updates bidding
activity)
    By Nichola Groom
       Dec 7 (Reuters) - The first ever auction of offshore
wind development rights off the coast of California was in its
second day on Wednesday, with high bids topping half a billion
dollars.
    The Biden administration's sale is a major milestone in its
goal of putting turbines along every U.S. coastline, and a
critical test of developer appetite for investment in floating
wind turbines, an emerging technology necessary in locations
where the ocean floor is too deep for fixed equipment.
    "America has become the destination to invest in offshore
wind, whether it's conventional or this next generation set of
technologies," White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi
said in an interview, calling floating wind farms "a unique
opportunity for us to position for even greater leadership as
this industry scales up globally."
    There is currently about 100 megawatts of floating wind
capacity installed in the world, compared with 50 gigawatts (GW)
for conventional offshore wind, Zaidi noted.
    Earlier this year, the administration said it aimed to have
15 GW of floating wind capacity along its coastlines by 2035,
enough to power about 5 million homes. That goal is aligned with
the government's other target for permitting 30 GW of total
offshore wind by 2030 -- a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's
agenda to fight climate change and create jobs.
    The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
(BOEM) is auctioning five lease areas equal to a combined
373,267 acres (151,056 hectares) off the state's north and
central coasts. Previous federal offshore wind auctions have all
been for leases in shallower waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
    After 27 rounds of bidding, high bids totaled a combined
$582.1 million. High bids on individual leases ranged between
$95.3 million and $148.8 million, according to live auction
results on the BOEM web site.
    The identities of the bidders are not disclosed during the
auction, but 43 companies had been approved to participate.
    They include established offshore wind players like Avangrid
Inc  AGR.N , Orsted  ORSTED.CO  and Equinor  EQNR.OL , which are
all developing projects on the U.S. East Coast, as well as
potential new entrants, including Swedish floating wind
developer Hexicon  HEXI.ST  and Macquarie  MQG.AX  unit Corio.
 (Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Alexander Smith and
Aurora Ellis)
 ((nichola.groom@thomsonreuters.com;))