Invenergy has responded to the Request for Competitive Interest (RFCI) issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) this summer for two wind energy areas (WEAs) in the Gulf of Mexico, following an unsolicited lease request from Hecate Energy.
Hecate Energy and Invenergy are planning to develop over 2 GW offshore wind projects using turbines with a single unit capacity ranging from 15 MW to 23 MW.
BOEM has officially recognized both Hecate and Invenergy as legally, technically, and financially qualified to hold a renewable energy lease in the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, BOEM will publish a Determination of Competitive Interest in the Federal Register on 13 December, confirming competitive interest in the two RFCI areas.
The agency will now review additional comments received in response to the RFCI and assess which sections of the two areas, along with other potential WEA options, are optimal for sale. BOEM plans to conduct the next offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico in 2026.
BOEM will issue draft WEAs for public feedback early next year.
In February 2024, Hecate Energy submitted an unsolicited application for wind energy leases in WEA options C and D, located off the Southeast Texas coast. BOEM subsequently launched an RFCI for WEAs C and D on 26 July, the same day it announced the cancellation of the second offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico due to insufficient interest.
The areas where Invenergy and Hecate aim to construct offshore wind farms differ from those involved in the cancelled lease sale.
Hecate Energy has proposed a 2 GW fixed-bottom offshore wind project featuring up to 133 wind turbines with capacities of 15-23 MW each. The company has pinpointed three interconnection points within Texas and Louisiana and is exploring twelve potential landfall sites with routes to three designated substations. Export cables might either run separately from the two lease areas or be unified offshore with a single substation and central export cable.
Invenergy’s project envisions up to 140 wind turbines, each with capacities exceeding 15 MW, for a total installed capacity of up to 2.5 GW. These turbines would connect to between one and four offshore substations.
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