The US Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on June 17 that it reached an agreement with Invenergy, under which the developer will give up four offshore wind leases for a USD 765 million reimbursement. The funds will be redirected to natural gas and geothermal projects.
This settlement involves lease areas in New York Bight, California’s Central Coast, and the Gulf of Maine. According to the DOI, Invenergy will invest the reimbursed money in natural gas-fired power plants across Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, as well as geothermal projects in the western US.
The agreement is part of a series of lease terminations by the Trump administration aimed at pausing new offshore wind development in favor of conventional energy sources. Earlier this year, similar agreements were announced with TotalEnergies and developers of the Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind projects, led by Ocean Winds.
Invenergy’s relinquished leases are in the early development stages. In the New York Bight, the company held a lease from BOEM’s 2022 auction, developing the Leading Light Wind project with energyRe.
The US government agreement also includes Invenergy’s California lease area in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area, secured in BOEM’s first West Coast offshore wind auction in 2022, later branded as Even Keel Wind. In the Gulf of Maine, Invenergy acquired two lease areas in BOEM’s 2024 auction, intended for floating wind technology.
Invenergy stated the decision aligns with focusing on projects deliverable within commercially viable timelines amid growing electricity demand. This agreement brings the total value of offshore wind lease buybacks by the Trump administration to nearly USD 2.6 billion.
Follow offshoreWIND.biz on:
Original Story at www.offshorewind.biz