Invenergy executive discusses California offshore wind project
BOEM recently executed the leases for California’s offshore wind, giving the developers exclusive right to conduct site assessment and site characteristic surveys.
The leases were executed June 1 for RWE, California North Floating, Equinor Wind US, Invenergy, and Golden State Wind (formerly Central California Offshore Wind), a JV between Oceans Winds and CPP Investments.
The executed leases do not give the developers approval to construct projects, but to study the area to inform development of a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) proposal to BOEM. Once BOEM receives the COP, it will then conduct a comprehensive technical, engineering, and environmental review, John Romero, BOEM’s public affairs officer for the Pacific Office told NPM.
“Before a project can be built, a developer must obtain BOEM COP approval,” Romero said, adding that this includes all relevant federal, state, and local permits. The five leases were awarded after the December 2022 offshore wind auction, totaling a combined USD 757m in winning bids.
Romero explained that these bids were reviewed, and lease terms finalized prior to the lease execution.
Bryan Schueler, senior executive vice president and construction business leader at Invenergy, provided some insight to NPM regarding its winning offshore wind bid.
The 80,000-acre lease area is 20 miles off the Cambria coast, north of Morro Bay, and is the easternmost lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA). The project is being pursued by Invenergy’s subsidiary, Even Keel Wind, and is anticipated to be about 2,000 MW in capacity.
“Right now, we are early in project development,” Schueler said, explaining that this includes meeting with tribal communities and key stakeholders in Central California. These stakeholders span from fisheries communities, local governments, industry organizations and regional economic organizations. Meetings are currently for these groups to “listen and hear how Invenergy and Even Keel Wind can be good California partners.”
As for the fishing community, Schueler said that Invenergy is gathering input to understand the concerns and “make sure we can all share the ocean.”
Though the project is still in the early stages, Schueler said Invenergy is expecting up to 100 turbines in the lease area.
“There will need to be construction of additional transmission lines to ensure California can tap into its abundant offshore wind resources to deliver clean, reliable energy to customers,” he added.
NPM previously reported that the Morro Bay WEA was anticipated to be “somewhat easier” to procure wind due to transmission already established in the vicinity that could meet the 2030 goal. That was contingent on whether the Diablo Canyon plant was retired, which has continuously been delayed.
This estimation was determined by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and CAISO during a 2022 summer workshop for the 20-Year Transmission Outlook.
Schueler highlighted that right now Invenergy is the only American-led company developing a “multi-project portfolio” of offshore wind on both U.S. coasts. Invenergy has shown interest in other West Coast offshore wind areas, including the southern Oregon coast and the southern Washington state coast.
“We look forward to continuing to evaluate additional opportunities to build upon our decades-long track record of community partnerships and advance the American know-how necessary to cement the U.S.’s competitiveness in the global offshore wind market,” Schueler said.
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.
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