Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Auction Sells Four Leases for $22 Million

University of Maine has developed a prototype floating wind turbine which it plans to tests offshore

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed its sixth and final offshore wind lease auction of the Biden Administration today for leases in the Gulf of Maine. The sites were viewed as advancing the industry as they would be the first floating offshore wind turbines on the Atlantic Coast, but the auction drew limited support from the industry.

The auction was announced in September with BOEM designating eight areas on the Outer Continental Shelf. The ranged from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and Maine with BOEM reporting the areas had the potential capacity of approximately 13 GW. The Biden Administration set a target for 30 GW of fixed offshore turbines by 2030 and 15 GW of floating turbines by 2035.

“With ample acreage for new projects and a state research lease, BOEM is helping to position Maine as a hub of innovation that will fuel the development of floating offshore wind technology in the U.S. and globally,” said Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic Network. “Despite the general uncertainty around the upcoming presidential election, this is a vote of confidence for an American industry that has already received nearly $3 billion of new supply chain investment in the first nine months of 2024,” said the non-profit dedicated to offshore wind and other ocean renewable industries.

Fourteen companies had qualified for the auction but BOEM reports only two were bidders. The auction went one round and only attracted bids on four of the eight offered leases. The bids totaled just over $21.9 million.

Avangrid Renewables, part of Spain’s Iberdrola Group, won two of the leases both located in the southwest region of the Gulf of Maine. One lease for 98,565 acres drew a winning bid of $4.9 million and the other for nearly 125,000 acres was won with a bid of $6.2 million. The company highlighted that the sites are attractive because they have relatively shallow waters within the limits of existing floating wind technology. They are each about 30 nautical miles from the coast.

After the auction, Avangrid said it would work to develop the lease areas which have the potential for 3 GW of power generation. The company said the lease areas will also enable Avangrid to help progress floating wind technology as the next generation of offshore wind development is increasingly sited in deeper waters.

Chicago-based Invenergy was the other successful bidder winning one lease off the coast of Maine and the other off Massachusetts. The Marine site is approximately 46 nautical miles from the coast and consists of 97,854 acres for which the company bid $4.9 million. The second site, approximately 22 nautical miles from the coast of Massachusetts is 117,780 acres and received a winning bid of $5.9 million.

In addition to the challenges of working in the deeper waters using floating technology, industry observers note the uncertainty ahead of next week’s U.S. presidential election blaming both factors for limiting today’s response.

BOEM highlights under the Biden Administration it approved 10 commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects. When completed, these projects have the potential for more than 15 GW, enough power for over 5 million homes. BOEM has published a schedule for additional auctions which will be up to the next administration if they are to proceed.