Eversource Sells Seabed Acreage Offshore US to JV Partner Ørsted for USD 625 Million

Business & Finance

September 8, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Eversource Energy has completed its sale of an uncommitted lease area off the south coast of Massachusetts to its joint venture (JV) partner Ørsted for USD 625 million.

The all-cash transaction, which was announced in May, closed today following approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The deal with Eversource provides Ørsted with the full rights to about 175,000 acres of seabed area.

The Lease Area OCS-A 500 (Lease 500), located 25 miles (approx. 40 kilometres) off the southern coast of Massachusetts, has a potential capacity of up to 4 GW.

Along with the seabed lease rights, Ørsted will also 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 become the sole owner of the operations and maintenance hub in East Setauket, N.Y., and the charter agreement for the first American-built offshore wind service operations vessel, which is under construction at Edison Chouest’s facility in Houma, Louisiana.

The company said that it is also progressing with the sale of its 50 per cent stake in the three projects proposed to be built in the area, namely South Fork Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind with a total capacity of 1,758 MW.

According to Eversource, the details of this transaction will be announced soon.

Eversource will use a portion of the proceeds from the lease area sale to provide its anticipated tax equity investment for the 132 MW South Fork Wind.

The contribution for Eversource’s new tax equity member interest is expected to be approximately USD 545 million.

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The company’s tax equity investment in South Fork Wind is expected to close in the current quarter.

Construction of the South Fork Wind offshore wind farm commenced in early 2022, with commercial operation expected in late 2023.

The project will comprise twelve Siemens Gamesa 11 MW wind turbines, installed at the project site some 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island, and some 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York.