Statoil and PNE Wind Stake US Offshore Wind Claims

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has received unsolicited lease requests, filed separately by Statoil Wind US and PNE Wind USA, seeking to develop offshore wind energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

These requests are for areas located offshore New York and Massachusetts and are not in response to a formal call for interest.

BOEM has finished its review of the unsolicited lease requests and deemed the requests complete. Moreover, BOEM has reviewed the applicants’ qualification materials and determined that the applicants are legally, technically, and financially qualified to pursue offshore wind energy leases.

PNE Wind USA submitted an unsolicited lease request for 40,920 acres some 28 nautical miles off of the coast of Long Island where the company plans to build a wind farm with a preliminary capacity of roughly 300-400MW.

If approved, the Excelsior offshore wind farm would feature between 30 and 50 wind turbines with a rated output of between 8MW and 10MW and is expected to be operational by 2027. The proposed wind farm is located near the lease area auctioned off in December 2016 and awarded to Statoil.

If BOEM decides to move forward with this application, the next step will be to issue a public notice to determine whether there is competitive interest in bidding for the area.

In Massachusetts, both PNE Wind USA and Statoil Wind US submitted unsolicited lease requests for two of the previously unleased areas.

Lease area OCS-A 0502 is approximately 248,015 acres and lease area OCS-A 0503 is approximately 140,554 acres.

Due to the fact that both parties nominated the same areas, BOEM has determined that competitive interest exists and plans to proceed with the competitive leasing process outlined in BOEM’s regulations.

PNE Wind USA plans to build two 400MW offshore wind farms at the sites located 64 and 76 nautical miles southeast from the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset. Both wind farms would comprise between 40 and 50 wind turbines with outputs between 8MW and 10MW and are planned for commissioning in 2027.

Statoil Wind US proposes a phased development of one or more wind farms across the two areas offshore Massachusetts, with the first phase of the project being a wind farm of between 400MW and 600MW. The wind farm, or wind farms, would consist of wind turbines with rated power of between 8MW and 12MW.