DONG Energy has taken over RES Americas Developments Inc.’s (RES) more than 1000MW newly assigned development project rights off the coast of Massachusetts.
At the offshore wind auction held by BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) on 29 January 2015, RES secured the rights to develop one of the two leases that were awarded. The lease comprises an area that could potentially accommodate more than 1000MW. Following approval from BOEM, the lease will be taken over by DONG Energy while RES Americas will continue to support development of the lease area as agreed with DONG Energy.
Entering the US offshore wind market earmarks DONG Energy’s entry into the first project outside Europe.
Samuel Leupold, Executive Vice President of Wind Power, said: “The US is an interesting market for offshore wind with the potential to become a significant area for future development. We already have a number of post 2020 projects in our pipeline in North-Western Europe that we will continue to develop. With the takeover of the offshore wind development project in the US, we will broaden our geographical scope and follow the market potential outside of our current footprint.”
A draft policy bill to support the regulatory conditions for offshore wind has been introduced with the Massachusetts government aiming to provide a stable framework that will enable the build-out of projects and the creation of new jobs.
The Massachusetts lease has a total size of 760 square kilometres and is located approximately 90 kilometres from shore. Water depth is between 40-50 metres.
Leupold continued: “The site conditions are quite similar to those we currently work with in North-Western Europe which means that the project could be developed using well-known technology and logistics.”