The bidding covers a lease area of 67,963 acres, which was requested by Trident Winds for the development of 765MW floating wind energy project.
BOEM director Abigail Ross Hopper said: “This announcement represents a significant step in facilitating the responsible development of offshore renewable energy to help California meet its energy needs.”
The bureau, which has already determined Trident as qualified to hold an outer continental shelf lease, intends to seek potential interests from other developers in the 68,000-acre site with water depth ranges from 800m to 1,000m.
Based on the results, BOEM will determine whether to grant the lease area to Trident Winds in a competitive or non-competitive manner.
Featuring 100 floating foundations with each supporting a wind turbine generating capacity of 7-8MW, the proposed project has potential to be expanded to generate 1,000MW at a later stage, subject to availability of additional transmission capacity and off-take agreements.
Power generated from the project will supplied to the shore using a single seafloor transmission cable.
The initial 650MW project is estimated to cost $3.2bn. It is planned to enter service in 2025 and have an estimated operational life of 25 years.
The project will contribute to California’s aim to generate 50% of the state's total power from renewable sources by 2030.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, areas off the US west coast and Hawaii have potential to generate 1.5 terawatts of offshore wind energy, which can meet power needs of more than 500 million homes.
Image: California plans to meet 50% of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2030. Photo: courtesy of xedos4/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
