Ørsted and Eversource reach $625m US wind seabed rights buyout deal

Danish utility Ørsted has struck a $625m deal to fully take over the uncontracted federal offshore wind lease area it jointly owns with US partner Eversource Energy.

In addition to the seabed, which is in early-stage development, an all-cash transaction also includes contracts and partnerships for operational assets in the Northeast.

Ørsted will take full ownership of partnerships with the Port of Providence, the Port of Davisville, and Quonset Point, all in Rhode Island, and with Connecticut’s New London State Pier. Ørsted will also take over the operations and maintenance hub in East Setauket, and the charter agreement for the first US-built offshore wind service operations vessel, which is under construction at Edison Chouest’s facility in Houma, Louisiana.

The lease area covers around 187,000 uncontracted acres of seabed for American offshore wind energy and has a potential capacity of up to 4 GW. Located about 25 miles off the coast of Southern New England, the site can serve four markets, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Ørsted and Eversource are also developing South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind, and Sunrise Wind projects with a total capacity of 1,758 MW. Eversource said it plans to offload its 50% stake in the projects by the end of June.