REM: First California offshore wind auction tops $757mn

The first California offshore wind auction reached $757.1mn after a day and a half of intense bidding that ended just after noon local time on December 7.

The wind projects would be floating, a nascent technology, because of the depth of the Pacific Ocean waters in the Outer Continental Shelf.

Bids had been expected to reach up to $2.5bn, said the Business Network for Offshore Wind, a trade group. They fell far short of that, perhaps a reflection of the state of floating wind technology or the fact that there is little offtake capacity or deep ports near the sites that were auctioned. 

The auction opened at 7am local time on December 6, and by midway through the second day there had been 31 rounds of bidding for the contested areas.

The winners were: RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (through its subsidiary California North Floating) for the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA); and Equinor Wind US, Ocean Winds through Central California Offshore Wind, and Invenergy California Offshore for the Morro Bay WEA. 

"Today’s lease sale is further proof that industry momentum – including for floating offshore wind development – is undeniable,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

Combined, the five sites have the potential to produce at least 4.5 GW of renewable energy. The two Humboldt areas are between 63,300 and 69,000 acres (25,600-27,900 hectares), and the Morro Bay areas are a little more than 80,000 acres (32,400 hectares) each.