United States – RWE Renewables, one of the world’s leading offshore wind companies, has won the New York Bight offshore lease auction in the United States.
RWE secured area OCS-A 0539 with a winning bid of $1.1 billion through the joint venture ‘Bight Wind.’ The awarded seabed has the capacity to host approximately 3 gigawatts (GW), which is enough to power 1.1 million US homes. By the end of the decade, the project should be operational.
The auction featured six leases, setting a new record for the number of leases available in a single auction in the United States. Format bidders were only allowed to win one lease area in the auction. The rights to develop the lease area and participate in upcoming New York state offtake auctions, the first of which is expected later this year, are included in the winning bid.
Offshore wind
RWE must now engage in community outreach with local tribes, the fishing industry, and other ocean users, as well as engage with the domestic supply chain to create new local jobs and private investment, as well as enter into project labor agreements to pay laborers at prevailing wage rates.
Offshore wind will be critical for the United States, particularly in the Northeast, to reduce carbon emissions and meet climate goals, such as New York’s goal of bringing 9,000 MW of offshore wind online by 2035 and New Jersey’s goal of delivering 7,500 MW by 2035. Significant new jobs and private investment will be created as a result of the region’s clean energy goals, which will help the region’s economy grow.
