PARIS (Reuters) – French oil major TotalEnergies has won a bid to build three gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power capacity on the New Jersey coast in the United States.
The company said the $795 million deal is for the 341 sq km New York Bight concession, which is located up to 87 km from the coasts of New Jersey and New York and is scheduled to start production by 2028.
TotalEnergies also said it would acquire Germany energy group EnBW’s stake in the project because EnBW wants to focus on its European activities.
The French group’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, said the project is TotalEnergies’ biggest renewable energy project and lifts its portfolio to more than 10 GW of offshore wind projects.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has set a goal to install 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 in an effort to tackle climate change and create jobs.
The country’s first major sale of offshore development rights drew a record $4.37 billion in bids from developers including several European energy giants.
The leases in New York Bight – shallow waters between New York’s Long Island and New Jersey – are projected to host projects able to generate up to 7 GW of electricity.
(Reporting by GV De Clercq; Editing by David Goodman)
