NRG Puts Offshore Wind Development on Hold (USA)

Acknowledging the monumental challenges in developing a new domestic industry, NRG Energy announced that it is putting active development of offshore wind projects on hold for the near term.

NRG’s subsidiary and lead developer of the Mid-Atlantic Wind Park (the Wind Park) off the coast of Delaware, Bluewater Wind, has been unable to find an investment partner and intends to terminate the project’s 200-megawatt power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Delmarva Power & Light Company (DP&L) at the end of the year.

According to David Crane, NRG’s President and CEO, “Our people have worked hard and we’ve made a considerable financial investment in the Wind Park, but that effort cannot overcome the difficult and unfortunate realities of the current market. We’re not giving up, but at this moment we can’t rationally justify further investment in this project without the prospect that it can move forward within a reasonable timeframe.”

Since NRG acquired Bluewater Wind in November of 2009, the Company has made significant financial investments in development including design and engineering studies, state and federal permitting and leasing fees, ecological assessments, and professional and consulting fees to move the Wind Park forward. At the time of the acquisition, the outlook for offshore wind was positive. The Wind Park was in line for a Department of Energy loan guarantee, a necessary element for this capital-intensive project, and NRG Bluewater had received preferential development rights for a project off the coast of New Jersey and has submitted proposals for projects off the coasts of Maryland and Massachusetts.

A little more than two years later, the outlook for offshore wind and for the Delaware project has changed dramatically. In particular, two aspects of the project critical for success have actually gone backwards: the decisions of Congress to eliminate funding for the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program applicable to offshore wind, and the failure to extend the Federal Investment and Production Tax Credits for offshore wind which expire at the end of 2012 and which have rendered the Delaware project both unfinanceable and financially untenable for the present.

In addition, a central element of the Wind Park’s business plan, previously communicated to public authorities in Delaware, was to find an investment partner. To date the company has been unable to find a partner, despite the attractiveness of the PPA and after having approached more than two dozen prospective investors over the course of several months.

“We would like to thank Governor Markell, Secretary O’Mara, and the State’s entire Congressional delegation led by Senator Carper, who have provided strong and unwavering support for the project,” said David. “We also appreciate the executives and staff at DP&L who cooperated with Bluewater in every way, and the local communities and general public of Delaware who enthusiastically embraced the project and the idea of emission-free power.”

NRG will close its Bluewater Wind development office but preserve its options by maintaining our development rights and continuing to seek development partners and equity investors. If and when market conditions improve and the company is able to find partners, NRG will look to deploy the Wind Park and explore other viable offshore wind opportunities in the Northeast.

NRG continues to support offshore wind in the eastern United States as a matter of public policy, and our Company’s commitment to zero emission, fully sustainable renewable power generation continues unabated.

About NRG

NRG is at the forefront of changing how people think about and use energy. A Fortune 500 company, NRG is a pioneer in developing cleaner and smarter energy choices for our customers: whether as one of the largest solar power developers in the country, or by building the first privately funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure or by giving customers the latest smart energy solutions to better manage their energy use. Our diverse power generating facilities can support over 20 million homes and our retail electricity providers-Reliant, Green Mountain Energy Company and Energy Plus-serve more than two million customers.

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Offshore WIND staff, December 13, 2011; Image: nrg