New York Bight Lease Sale Day 1

February 23, 2022, by Adrijana Buljan

This is an article following Day 1 updates of the New York Bight offshore wind lease sale. To read the updates from Day 2 and Day 3, or news on the final results of the lease sale, go to the articles below:

The biggest offshore wind lease sale ever organised in the US is resuming on 24 February after breaking a couple of more records on the first day of running and multiple bidders still in for several sites after 21 rounds.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) called it a day on 23 February with USD 1.51 billion in bids and the biggest lease area, OCS-A 0539 in Hudson South, still hot with five bidders in for USD 410 million.

This site alone has broken the US record in how much the Treasury will receive from an offshore wind lease sale as the record so far was held by the Massachusetts auction from 2018, when Equinor, Mayflower Wind, and Vineyard Wind won their leases for USD 405.1 million in total.

OCS-A 0539 is estimated to accommodate at least 1,387 MW of installed offshore wind capacity, according to BOEM’s base scenario which put the total capacity of the six New York Bight sites to 5.6 GW. However, given the technological and methodological advancements in the industry, the lease sites could as much as 7 GW, according to BOEM.

Aside from the biggest site, three other lease areas have gathered plenty of interest and high bid prices that went beyond USD 200 million at the end of the first day, and one more site nearing this figure at USD 180 million.

The smallest of the six sites, OCS-A 0544 in federal waters off Long Beach in New York, had no bidders after reaching a bid price of USD 100 million in the two last rounds on Day 1; however, this could change as BOEM permits bidders to join bidding rounds even if they had not placed bids in the previous ones.

At this time, it is unknown who of the 25 eligible bidders is competing and if all of them are. As reported earlier, BOEM has pre-qualified 25 companies and consortia for the New York bight lease sale by mid-January, but they still needed to meet further requirements outlined in the Final Sale notice, including making a USD 5 million bid deposit.

The list of the eligible bidders shows the biggest names from the offshore wind sector, but also from oil and gas, are competing for their piece of federal waters offshore New York and New Jersey.

Shell, BP, and Equinor, alone or through joint ventures, are pre-qualified to bid, as are RWE, SSE Renewables, Ocean Winds, and Iberdrola’s Avangrid Renewables, among others. According to a spokesperson from Ørsted, the offshore wind giant is also an eligible bidder, but through a company under a different name – which the developer is keeping a secret until after the auction is completed.

New York Bight Lease Sale Day 1: Round-by-Round

Round 21: BOEM will resume with the offshore wind lease sale for the New York Bight tomorrow, 24 February, after the 21st round ended with OCS-A 0539 receiving five bids at USD 410 million, OCS-A 0538 one at USD 295 million, OCS-A 0537 three bids at a price of USD 265 million, OCS-A 0541 two bids at USD 285 million, and OCS-A 0542 also two bids at a bid price set at USD 180 million.

OCS-A 0544 completed the last round for today with no bids and with a current bid price set at USD 100 million.

Round 20: One lease site alone has broken the US record in offshore wind lease bids now with the OCS-A 0539 site hitting USD 410 million and one live bid at this price for now. Four years ago, the record was set in Massachusetts with Equinor, Mayflower Wind, and Vineyard Wind winning the lease sale for a total of USD 405.1 million across three sites.

Three bids were now in for OCS-A 0538 for USD 275 million, while the price for OCS-A 0537 increased to USD 250 million and was taken by two bidders.

OCS-A 0541 also saw two bids in the twentieth round which priced the site at USD 270 million, and the adjacent OCS-A 0542 had five live bids in this round for USD 155 million.

OCS-A 0544 had no bids in this round, with a bid price set at USD 100 million.

Round 19: Four bids are now in for the biggest offshore wind area of the lease sale, OCS-A 0539. The price stood at USD 390 million as in the previous round.

OCS-A 0538 reached a price of USD 275 million with one bidder and OCS-A 0537 had two bids now for the price from the previous round of USD 235 million.

The price of OCS-A 0541 reached USD 255 million and the site had two bidders in this round, offer of with the adjacent OCS-A 0542 now seeing one bid for the offered USD 155 million.

OCS-A 0544 remained at USD 75 million and got three live bids.

Round 18: One live bid was in place for OCS-A 0539 for USD 390 million and four bidders went for OCS-A 0538 for USD 250 million in the eighteenth round of the New York Bight lease sale.

OCS-A 0537 also saw only one bid in this round at a price of USD 235 million, as did the smallest site, OCS-A 0544 for USD 75 million.

Two bidders took OCS-A 0541 offer of USD 240 million and four were now in for the adjacent OCS-A 0542 which reached USD 135 million in the latest round, after not yielding any bids until Round 9.

Round 17: The largest area being offered in the New York Bight offshore wind auction is nearing a bid price of USD 400 million, now standing at USD 375 million with two bids placed in the latest round.

OCS-A 0538 had one bidder at USD 250 million, and OCS-A 0537 had two more bids in the latest round that stayed at the same price as in the previous two, USD 214.5 million.

The OCS-A 0541 price jumped to USD 225 million, with two bids, while the adjacent OCS-A 0542 reached USD 95.9 million with three bidders still in.

OCS-A 0544 saw three live bids at a price of USD 49.8 million.

Round 16: The US has passed USD 1 billion in New York Bight bids in the latest round, with the total currently being USD 1.11 billion.

The number of bids for OCS-A 0539, OCS-A 0538, and OCS-A 0537 remain the same in Round 16, with the bidding prices increasing for OCS-A 0539 and OCS-A 0538 to USD 350 million and USD 230 million, respectively.

The OCS-A 0541 price rose to USD 202.3 million, with three bidders still in, while its adjacent OCS-A 0542 completed the round at a price of USD 63.9 million and one bid more than in the previous one.

The smallest of the areas, OCS-A 0544, had one bidder at a price of USD 49.8 million.

Round 15: Four bidders are in for the largest auctioned area that just reached a price of USD 330 million.

OCS-A 0538, located right next to it, is now at USD 209.3 million and two live bids in the latest round, while the OCS-A 0537 site in Central bight had one bid for USD 214.5 million.

OCS-A 0541 had three bidders and a price of USD 177.3 million in this round, and its adjacent OCS-A 0542 jumped to USD 42.6 million.

OCS-A 0544 had two live bids for USD 33.2 million.

Quick fact: With 14 bidding rounds behind us, the US has now long broken the record for amounts to be paid for offshore wind leases, set back in 2018 in the Massachusetts lease sale. BOEM then awarded lease rights to Equinor and Mayflower Wind Energy for USD 135 million each, while Vineyard Wind secured its lease with USD 135.1 million.

Round 14: The 125,964-acre OCS-A 0539 lease site has reached a price of USD 315 million and had two bids in the fourteenth round. The site has the potential to house at least 1,387 MW of installed offshore wind capacity.

OCS-A 0538, located next to it and having a potential for more than 900 MW capacity, remained at USD 184.3 million set in the previous round, now with two more live bids.

Northeast of the two, OCS-A 0537 marked two bids for USD 189.5 million and, to the southwest, OCS-A 0541 reached a bidding price of USD 152.3 million placed by two bidders.

The site adjacent to and located right behind OCS-A 0541, also saw two live bids and an increase in price to USD 28.4 million.

OCS-A 0544 remained at USD 22.1 million from the previous round, but with two bids more.

Round 13: The bidding price for OCS-A 0539 lease site, the biggest offshore wind area auctioned in New York Bight, hit USD 300 million in the latest bidding round, which saw three developers placing bids for this piece of federal waters offshore New York and New Jersey.

The neighbouring OCS-A 0538 had one live bid for USD 184.3 million and OCS-A 0537 in Central Bight saw three bidders at a bidding price of USD 164.5 million.

The lease site OCS-A 0541 stood at USD 127.3 million from the previous round, but now with five bids. Its adjacent OCS-A 0542 climbed to USD 18.9 million and had two bids in this round.

The bidding price for OCS-A 0544, which stood at USD 14.7 million for four rounds, increased to USD 22.1 million with one bidder in Round 13.

Round 12: The biggest site has now reached USD 275 million and one bidder more, with three sites now priced at well over USD 100 million: OCS-A 0538 at USD 159.3 million, OCS-A 0537 at USD 139.5 million, and OCS-A 0541 at USD 127.3 million.

OCS-A 0542, adjacent to OCS-A 0541, stands at USD 12.6 million like in the previous round, with two more live bids this time.

The small OCS-A 0544 is still at USD 14.7 million as it was in the previous three rounds, now also with two more bidders.

Round 11: OCS-A 0539 completed the last round with USD 250 million as the bidding price, followed by the lease area located next to it in Hudson South, OCS-A 0538, with USD 134.3 million, and OCS-A 0537 in the Central Bight area at USD 114.5 million. Each of the three lease sites saw two live bids in Round 11.

OCS-A 0541 stood at USD 90.9 million from the previous round, but had four more bidders, with its adjacent area now at USD 12.6 million and one live bid in the latest round.

OCS-A 0544, which had no bids in the two previous rounds, now had one live bid for USD 14.7 million.

Round 10: Three bidders and USD 225 million for the 1,387 MW New York Bight lease area in the tenth round, with three sites nearing the USD 100 million threshold: OCS-A 0538 is at USD 95.9 million with three bidders, OCS-A 0541 at USD 90.9 million and one live bid in Round 10, and OCS-A 0537 with the bidding price of USD 81.8 million and one bidder.

OCS-A 0542, which had no live bides until the previous round, now had four and was still at its starting price of USD 8.4 million.

The smallest site, OCS-A 0544, is still at USD 14.7 million with no bids in the last two rounds.

Round 9: The bidding price for the 125,964-acre OCS-A 0539 lease site has reached USD 200 million, still showing five active bidders.

OCS-A 0538 to its northwest is now at USD 95.9 million with one live bid in the ninth round.

This figure is followed by USD 60.6 million and five bidders for OCS-A 0541, whose adjacent lease area OCS-A 0541 saw its first bid in Round 9 for the starting price of USD 8.4 million.

This time, there were no live bids for OCS-A 0544, the smallest lease area, which went for USD 14.7 million in this round.

OCS-A 0537 had two bidder in this round, too, with a bidding price of USD 54.5 million.

Round 8: Five bidders are still in for OCS-A 0539 in Hudson South with the bidding price jumping to USD 174.6 million, followed by USD 63.9 million for OCS-A 0538 located next to it, which had three bids in this round.

Southwest of the two, the price for OCS-A 0541 went up to USD 60.6 million with one bidder in the eighth round and the adjacent site OCS-A 0542 with no bids so far.

The smallest of the areas, OCS-A 0544 in federal waters off Long Beach in New York, now has three bidders competing for the site which could accommodate an offshore wind farm of around 520 MW.

OCS-A 0537 in the Central Bight had two bidders in Round 8 and a bidding price of USD 36.3 million.

Round 7: The biggest and most expensive lease area is now well over USD 100 million with six bidders, one less than in the previous round, bidding more than USD 134 million for the site that could house an offshore wind farm of at least 1,387 MW of capacity.

The site in its close proximity, located northeast, is now at USD 63.9 million and one developer placing the bid in the seventh round. Further up, in the Central Bight, OCS-A 0537 maintained USD 24.2 million from the previous round but now with three more bidders.

In the Hudson South area and to the southwest of the most popular area, the price of OCS-A 0541 has climbed to USD 40.4 million and marked two live bids, with the adjacent OCS-A 0542 still running for the starting price of USD 8.4 million and no bidders.

OCS-A 0544, the smallest of the six areas, now stands at USD 9.8 million with a bid from one developer in the latest round.

Round 6: The largest lease area (OCS-A 0539 in Hudson South), estimated to house 1,387 MW of installed offshore wind capacity, completed the last round with a price of USD 95.9 million.

OCS-A 0538, also the in Hudson South area, still stands at USD 42.6 million, with one bidder more joining in the sixth round, while OCS-A 0537 in Central Bight jumped to USD 24.2 million but saw one bidder.

Hudson South’s OCS-A 0541 reached USD 26.9 million and its adjacent OCS-A 0542 completed one more round without any bids.

OCS-A 0544, the smallest offered site, stood at USD 6.5 million in Round 6 with one more live bid.

Round 5: Seven bidders are still in for the largest auctioned area that just reached a price of USD 63.9 million. OCS-A 0538, located right next to it, is now at USD 42.6 million and follows suit of OCS-A 0539’s previous rounds bidding price-wise.

OCS-A 0541 saw two bidders and a price of USD 17.9 million in this round, while its adjacent site OCS-A 0542 is still without bids.

OCS-A 0537 still stood at USD 16.1 million, but now with two more bidders, while the situation for OCS-A 0544 was unchanged in Round 5 compared to the previous round.

Round 4: The OCS-A 0539 lease site, covering 125,964 acres in the Hudson South area, has reached a bidding price of USD 42.6 million and now has seven bidders.

The adjacent site OCS-A 0538 saw its bidding price increasing to USD 28.4 million with one less bidder in the fourth round.

OCS-A 0537, located in the Central Bight area, had one bidder in this round for USD 16.1 million, while OCS-A 0541 offshore Beach Haven in New Jersey saw two new bidders joining for USD 11.9 million.

OCS-A 0544, located in federal waters off Long Beach in New York, ended the fourth round with a bidding price of USD 6.5 million and one bidder.

The OCS-A 0542 lease area, situated right behind OCS-A 0541, has yet to see bidders competing for the site.

Round 3: The price for the OCS-A 0539 lease area, the biggest one offered in the auction, has jumped by almost USD 10 million in the third round, as the offered amount was now USD 28.4 million, with six bidders still competing for this site.

OCS-A 0538, the second most popular area, judging by the number of bidders (3), has reached a price of USD 18.9 million.

OCS-A 0537 and OCS-A 0541 have now passed USD 10 million mark while maintaining the same number of bidders as in the second round.

OCS-A 0544, the smallest area, now has two bidders for the asking price of USD 4.3 million, while OCS-A 0542 still has no bidders.

Bidder update: Ørsted is a qualified bidder in the New York Bight auction, a spokesperson from the company told offshoreWIND.biz, however; the developer will not disclose under which name it is bidding until after the auction has closed.

The list of the bidders BOEM pre-qualified for this lease sale comprises several company names that are showing up on the screens (at least on ours) for the first time.

Some of the biggest names from offshore wind as well as oil and gas are competing to build wind farms offshore New York and New Jersey. See the full list of eligible bidders in our previous article:

Round 2: The asking prices for the OCS-A 0538 and OCS-A 0539 areas in Hudson South went up to USD 12.6 million and USD 18.9 million, respectively, with live bids in this round dropping from 4 to 3 for OCS-A 0538 and from 8 to 6 for OCS-A 0539, the largest area.

Meanwhile, the smallest lease area being auctioned got its fist bidder in the second round, remaining at the starting price, as did OCS-A 0537 and OCS-A 0541, each of which had two live bids in this round.

OCS-A 0542 has not yet received any bids.

Round 1: The first round of the New York Bight lease sale ended with 8 bids placed for the biggest lease area, OCS-A 0539 in Hudson South, for which bidding started at a price of nearly USD 12.6 million.

The OCS-A 0538 area saw four live bids for USD 8.4 million, while OCS-A 0537 lease area received one bid for the asking price of a little over USD 7 million, as did OCS-A 0541 for a price of USD 7.9 million.

No bids were placed for OCS-A 0542 and OCS-A 0544, whose starting prices were set at USD 8.4 million and USD 4.3 million, respectively, with OCS-A 0544 in Hudson North being the smallest site at the auction.

The US Government is holding its biggest offshore wind lease sale ever today, 23 February, for six areas in federal waters in the New York Bight offshore New York and New Jersey.

The Department of the Interior’s agency Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has already held a mock auction in preparation for the sale today with the eligible bidders that filed a Bidder’s Financial Form (BFF) last month and made a USD 5 million bid deposit by 9 February.

In the first offshore wind auction organised under the Biden-Harris Administration and the biggest to be held in the country so far, BOEM is offering a total of 488,201 acres across six lease areas marked as: OCS-A 0537, OCS-A 0538, OCS-A 0539, OCS-A 0541, OCS-A 0542, and OCS-A 0544.

The biggest of the six areas is OCS-A 0539 in Hudson South with 125,964 acres.

Leases will be offered to up to 25 bidders that BOEM pre-qualified earlier, who also needed to meet further requirements outlined in the Final Sale Notice (FSN).

The leases for the six sites could result in the US adding from 5.6 GW to 7 GW of offshore wind energy, enough to power more than 2 million homes.

As offshore wind technology continues to advance, these areas may have the potential to produce even more clean energy, according to a press release from the Department of the Interior from January, as the government announced the record-breaking offshore wind auction.

The New York Bight offshore wind auction includes several innovative lease stipulations designed to promote the development of the domestic supply chain and enhance engagement with Tribes, the commercial fishing industry, other ocean users, and underserved communities.

The stipulations will also advance flexibility in transmission planning and make use of project labor agreements throughout the construction of offshore wind projects. Stipulations include incentives to source major components domestically – such as blades, turbines, and foundations – and to enter into project labour agreements to ensure projects are union-built.