Auction of offshore wind parcels draws $450M in bids

BOSTON (AP) — A lease auction of about 390,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts for the development of offshore wind energy has drawn a record $405 million in winning bids.

If fully developed, the three parcels could generate about 4.1 gigawatts of energy — enough to power nearly 1.5 million homes.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Friday the auction was the nation’s eighth competitive lease sale for the development of offshore wind. He said it smashed the previous highest grossing offshore wind lease sale record of $42 million for an area off New York in 2016.

The provisional winners of the auction were Equinor Wind US, Mayflower Wind Energy and Vineyard Wind. They bid $135 million each for three similarly sized parcels of approximately 130,000 acres.

The areas are located about 20 miles from Martha’s Vineyard and 44 miles from Block Island.

Before the lease is finalized, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission must conduct an anti-competitiveness review of the auction. The provisional winners will be required to pay the winning bid and provide financial assurance to BOEM.

Zinke said the auction demonstrates that the Trump administration isn’t focused solely on fossil fuels.

“To anyone who doubted that our ambitious vision for energy dominance would not include renewables, today we put that rumor to rest,” Zinke said in a written statement following the auction.