- Success marks entry into U.S. offshore wind market
- Winning bid secures development area with a capacity of about 3 gigawatts
- Lease is expected to provide enough affordable, domestic, carbon-free energy to power 1.1 million homes
Boston, 25 February 2022
“Winning a lease in the New York auction is a significant move for us as it marks RWE’s entry into the U.S. offshore wind market, one of our key strategic markets. Our success in this auction means an important step on the road to tripling our offshore wind capacity to 8 gigawatts by 2030, as part of our ‘Growing Green’ growth and investment programme. Now we’re looking forward to developing our first offshore wind project in the U.S. and to contribute to the region’s offshore build-out targets.”
Sven Utermöhlen, CEO Offshore Wind of RWE Renewables
RWE Renewables, one of the globally leading companies in offshore wind today announced its success in the New York Bight offshore lease auction in the U.S. Through the joint venture ‘Bight Wind LLC’, RWE secured area OCS-A 0539 with a winning bid of $1.1 billion. The awarded seabed has the potential to host 3 gigawatts (MW) of capacity, enough to power 1.1 million U.S. homes. The project is expected to be in operation toward the end of the decade.
The auction consisted of six leases, a record in the U.S. for the most leases available in a single auction. Under the auction, format bidders were limited to winning one lease area only. A winning bid provides the rights to develop the lease area and to participate in upcoming New York state offtake auctions, the first of which is expected later this year.
“We are thrilled to be joining the U.S. offshore wind industry,” said Sam Eaton, RWE Senior Vice President, Offshore Development Americas. “This is an important first step to building our long-term offshore wind business in the U.S. I look forward to working with our great team, our partners and vendors, and the local communities to support the region’s climate goals by producing affordable, clean energy while creating good local jobs and private investment in New York and New Jersey.”
The next step for RWE to fully meet requirements is to engage in community outreach with local tribes, the fishing industry and other ocean users; engage with the domestic supply chain to create new local jobs and private investments; and also enter into project labour agreements to pay laborers at prevailing wage rates.
Offshore wind will be critical for the U.S., particularly in the Northeast, to reduce the region’s carbon emissions and meet climate goals, including New York state’s target of bringing 9,000 MW of offshore wind online by 2035 and New Jersey’s target of delivering 7,500 MWs of offshore wind by 2035. Importantly, the region’s clean energy goals will also deliver significant new jobs and private investment to support the growth of the region’s economy.
RWE is one of the world’s leading companies in offshore wind, active across the entire value chain, from project conception and development to construction as well as operation and maintenance. The unparalleled expertise the company has earned over the last 20 years has resulted in 17 wind farms in operation. The company recently finished successfully the installation of all turbines of the 857 MW offshore wind farm Triton Knoll off the English Coast. Two more projects, the 342 MW project Kaskasi, off the German island Heligoland, and the 1.4 GW project Sofia, one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world, are currently under construction.