Renewable energy developer files unsolicited bid for offshore wind lease in Gulf of Mexico
In 2020, installation was completed on the first wind turbines installed in U.S. federal waters 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia. (U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management)
Federal energy regulators announced Friday that they received an unsolicited request from a renewable power company seeking an offshore wind lease in a part of the Gulf of Mexico considered critical to the nation’s transition to renewable energy and the Biden administration’s climate goals.
The request came from Hecate Energy, an American company that specializes in solar and wind electricity generation and renewable energy storage in multiple locations across the country.
Hecate submitted a lease request for two potential areas off the Texas coast roughly 30 miles southeast of Matagorda Beach, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Hecate is proposing to build 133 offshore wind turbines that would generate 2 gigawatts of electricity, which is enough to power around 750,000 homes.
The two areas in question span a total of about 223 square miles on the Outer Continental Shelf and sit within a sector that sees some of the highest wind speeds in the Gulf, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Studies conducted under the Trump administration found that offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to generate double the energy currently being used in all five Gulf states.
However, development has so far made a few stutter steps that some worry may have scared off investors. BOEM had to cancel a previous lease sale held in March because of a lack of competitive interest.
In its proposal, Hecate noted that investor reluctance around Gulf wind projects, saying its proposal could jumpstart the industry. Having seen much success in developing onshore wind farms in Texas, the company said it is uniquely positioned and has a high level of confidence to tackle offshore wind in the Gulf.
Because Hecate’s request was unsolicited, federal rules require BOEM to issue a public notice requesting comments from any other industry competitors who might be interested in the lease. If any other companies express a legitimate interest in acquiring the lease and are qualified to actually purchase it, BOEM could decide to open it up for a competitive auction. If the agency doesn’t receive any other interest, it will likely move forward with the sale to Hecate.
Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has approved the nation’s first nine commercial scale offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of more than 13 gigawatts of clean energy — enough to power nearly 5 million homes.
Since January 2021, the department has held four offshore wind lease auctions – including a record-breaking sale off the shore of Long Island, New York, and the first-ever sales off the Pacific Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The Department of Interior also recently announced a schedule of up to 12 additional wind lease sales through 2028.
