US developer Deepwater Wind has acquired the 96,400-acre Delaware offshore wind lease from utility NRG.
The latter has transferred the project assets of NRG Bluewater Wind, which include the lease, to a Deepwater affiliate, NRG spokesman David Gaier told reNEWS.
Deepwater also confirmed the transfer. “That lease assignment is under review by regulators from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,” Deepwater spokesperson Meaghan Wims said.
BOEM originally granted the lease to Bluewater however development was put on hold in 2011 by NRG, which had acquired the independent developer in 2009 as part of plans to expand into offshore wind.
Deepwater is also proposing to build the 120MW Skipjack offshore wind project about 17 nautical miles northeast of Ocean City, Maryland in what is thought by some to be the Delaware lease area.
Maryland regulators are reviewing Deepwater’s application as well as a 250MW proposal off Maryland by US Wind. A decision is due by May 2017.
If Deepwater wins approval, the developer plans to start local construction as early as 2020, with the project in operation in 2022.
Image: the 30MW Block Island wind project off Rhode Island (Deepwater Wind)
Deepwater nabs Delaware lease
NRG transfers 96,400-acre offshore wind area to Block Island developer
By EBS