Do you recall the unsolicited lease request the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) received from Chicago, Illinois-based developer Hecate Energy this summer for an area in the Gulf of Mexico?
BOEM remembers, and now it has some competitive interest in an area on the Outer Continental Shelf that dozens of other companies have deemed undesirable for offshore wind development.
Thursday the federal entity that oversees offshore wind development issued a Determination of Competitive Interest in two Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Gulf of Mexico, following Hecate and another Chicago company, Invenergy, expressing interest in acquiring a commercial wind energy lease for WEA options C and D, pictured in green on the map below.
In late July, BOEM published a Request for Competitive Interest (RFCI) in the Federal Register seeking feedback on Hecate’s unsolicited lease request. Amongst the 18 comments BOEM received in return, Invenergy GOM Offshore Wind LLC (Invenergy) expressed interest in WEA options C and D.
BOEM has since deemed both developers to be legally, technically, and financially qualified to hold an OCS renewable energy lease in the Gulf of Mexico, hence determining that competitive interest exists in the RFCI areas.
“The Gulf of Mexico remains an attractive option for offshore wind energy development,” said Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Jim Kendall. “We are excited about the future of this emerging sector in the region.”
Neither Hecate nor Invenergy has developed offshore wind projects previously; the latter has been recently linked to Meta, which has procured more than a gigawatt’s worth of clean energy credits from Invenergy projects. Invenergy touts more than 200 renewable energy sites globally, accounting for more than 33 GW of clean power. Hecate has developed nearly 50 solar and energy storage projects exceeding 11.1 GW, owned and operated by utilities, independent power producers, and investors.
What might happen in the Gulf of Mexico?
Invenergy’s proposed project would consist of up to 140 wind turbines with expected capacities of more than 15 MW each for a total project capacity of up to 2,500 MW. Invenergy proposes the units be connected via inter-array cables to between one and four offshore substations, which would connect to an offshore export cable that would carry the power to shore.
Hecate Energy’s proposal is slightly smaller, consisting of up to 133 fixed-bottom wind turbine generators each with a capacity of 15 to 23 MW- giving the project an overall maximum capacity of approximately 2,000 MW. Each turbine would be deployed on fixed monopile or jacket foundation types. Hecate Energy says it has narrowed its selections to three points of interconnection within Texas and Louisiana and continues to examine 12 potential landfall locations with paths to three designated substations. Export cables would run separately from each of the two lease areas, or the lease areas would be joined offshore with one substation and one central export cable.
BOEM says it will move forward with the competitive lease process and proceed to hold the next offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico in 2026. The next step in that process will be to continue to analyze the other comments received in response to the RFCI and evaluate which portions of WEA options C and D, and other potential WEA options, are best suited for sale. BOEM will release draft WEAs for public input early next year. A notice announcing the determination of competitive interest will be published in the Federal Register on December 13.
BOEM had to cancel its previously scheduled second Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale due to a lack of competitive interest. Published on March 21, 2024, the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) received 25 comments, but just one company was willing to participate.
The areas are located off the coast of southeast Texas and had been previously identified by BOEM as potential Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) suitable for offshore wind leasing in 2021. WEA Option C totals 74,113 acres, and WEA Option D totals 68,239 acres, for a total of 142,352 acres.
BOEM worked with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to identify 14 potential WEAs via a comprehensive ecosystem-based ocean planning model as detailed in a joint report published in 2021. The areas contained in Hecate Energy’s unsolicited lease request were identified as part of that effort and are different than the areas (WEA I-1, WEA I-2, WEA J, and WEA K) included in BOEM’s second Gulf of Mexico offshore sale notice.
It’s worth noting that the incoming Trump Administration has frequently spoken out against offshore wind development, and it’s at least fairly likely that BOEM will be directed to pump the brakes on pending offshore plans once late January rolls around.
Will this auction ever happen? Better yet, will either of the two developers better known for terrestrial projects actually put steel into the water in the Gulf? Let’s just say this author wouldn’t put those picks in a parlay.
