October 17, 2017
North Carolina

N.C.’s first offshore wind farm lease finalized

By Lauren K. Ohnesorge, Staff Writer | Triangle Business Journal | Oct 17, 2017 | www.bizjournals.com

North Carolina’s first offshore wind development lease has been finalized by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, meaning Avangrid Renewables can start planning in earnest.

Portland, Ore.-based Avangrid Renewables submitted a $9.1 million winning bid for the 122,000-acre Kitty Hawk tract in March.

In a prepared statement, Laura Beane, president and CEO of Avangrid, called the lease an “important next step” in pushing the U.S. offshore wind industry forward.

“Executing this lease with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) not only begins the formal process of studying these 122,000 acres in more detail, it means building long-term local and regional partnerships as we explore the opportunity to develop reliable, homegrown, clean energy using just the ocean breezes as fuel,” she stated.

Avangrid isn’t releasing a timeline as to when the turbines will start spinning.

“That process will take time, is highly technical, and will involve many stakeholders, but we are confident in our ability to leverage our experience in order to deliver a competitively priced product to our eventual customers,” she stated.

Avangrid outbid competing offers from Wind Future, Statoil and wpd for the tract, which is located about 24 miles off the coastline.

The lease has a preliminary term of one year. During that time, Avangrid can submit a Site Assessment Plan for approval. The plan describes the facilities the company plans to install to assess ocean conditions of a commercial lease area. Once that is approved, Avangrid has four and a half years to submit a Construction and Operations Plan, detailing its proposal for construction and operation of the project. An environmental review follows. Once that’s approved, Avangrid would have a term of 25 years to construct and operate the wind farm.

Avangrid’s parent, Spanish firm Iberdrola, already develops, builds and operates offshore wind farms in Europe. Avangrid has already built turbines in North Carolina. Its Amazon wind farm began spinning earlier this year near Elizabeth City, and is the first utility-scale project in North Carolina.