Ørsted has agreed to acquire Eversource Energy’s 50% interest in the uncontracted federal offshore wind lease, jointly owned by the 2 companies, for $625 million.
The proposed Lease Area OCS-A 500 (Lease 500) contains approximately 187,000 uncontracted acres of seabed for US offshore wind energy with a potential capacity of up to 4GW.
The area covers 3 offshore wind projects, which are in the nascent phase of development. They are:
Revolution Wind – 704MW
Sunrise Wind – 880MW
South Fork Wind – 130MW
Eversource will provide tax equity for the South Fork wind farm.
The deal awaits regulatory clearance and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year. Upon completion of the deal, Eversource will support the onshore activities for the three projects through construction, said Ørsted.
In addition, Orsted will acquire contracts and leases for port facilities and other assets and take ownership of partnerships with the – Port of Providence, Port of Davisville, and Quonset Point – all in Rhode Island, and with Connecticut’s New London State Pier.
The Danish renewable developer will also purchase operations and maintenance hubs in East Setauket, New York, as well as the charter agreement for an offshore wind service operations vessel currently under construction at Edison Chouest's facility in Houma, Louisiana.
David Hardy, Group EVP and chief executive of Americas at Ørsted, said: "In addition to taking full ownership of seabed that is familiar to our team after years of work in this area, we will also be the sole bidder in our New York 3 and Rhode Island 2 active offshore wind solicitations. The combination of the seabed and additional components in this agreement further establishes a major hub in the Northeast for our activities and future opportunities."