A newly created partnership between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Ocean Winds has won a $150.3m (€144m) bid for an offshore wind energy lease area in the US.
The companies said Golden State Wind has been awarded an 80,418-acre lease area by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in the Morro Bay area off the central coast of California.
The lease area awarded, OCS-P 0564, is one of five sites off the coast of California that was the subject of an auction held by BOEM. The auction is the first floating offshore wind lease sale in the country.
Golden State Wind expects to build out the lease area to accommodate 2GW of offshore wind energy. OW and CPP Investments will each maintain a 50% investment in the project.
Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, said: “OW is a pioneer of floating offshore wind technology – with nearly 3.7GW of floating wind projects in development or operations in Portugal, France, South Korea, and the UK – and we are ready to bring our expertise to the US as well.
“OW currently has about 4GW of projects already under active development in the Northeastern US and this is the perfect opportunity to further expand our portfolio and contribute to the Federal Government’s ambitious floating offshore wind targets.”
Bruce Hogg, managing director and head of sustainable energies at CPP Investments, said: “We are proud that our partnership with Ocean Winds has earned this opportunity to help accelerate the transition to lower-carbon sources of energy for Californians and, more broadly, to serve as an example for other jurisdictions.
“This investment aligns well with our efforts to reduce carbon emissions across our portfolio while continuing to deliver strong, long-term risk-adjusted returns for the Fund’s contributors and beneficiaries.”
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