Avangrid, Invenergy subsidiaries secure BOEM’s first-ever Gulf of Maine offshore wind leases

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) reports that it has concluded its sixth offshore wind lease sale by offering areas in the Gulf of Maine – the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic Coast.

The lease sale resulted in two provisional winners on four lease areas and over $21.9 million in winning bids.

Avangrid Renewables, LLC won Lease OCS-564 at $4,928,250, which consists of 98,565 acres and Lease OCS-568 at $6,244,850, which consists of 124,897 acres. Both lease areas are approximately 29.5 nautical miles (nm) from Massachusetts.

Invenergy NE Offshore Wind, LLC won Lease OCS-562 at $4,892,700, which consists of 97,854 acres and is approximately 46.2 nm from Maine and Lease OCS-567 at $5,889,000 which consists of 117,780 acres is approximately 21.6 nautical miles (nm) from Massachusetts.

BOEM says that the four lease areas auctioned in the Gulf of Maine have a combined potential capacity of 6.8 GW. But online reports indicate that the auction netted $71 million less than the most recent fixed-bottom wind lease sale in the Central Atlantic in August, which sold two lease areas containing 6 GW in capacity for close to $93 million in total.