RWE Grows U.S. Wind Portfolio by 2 GW

RWE has been successful in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) first-ever Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease auction, securing Lease Area OCS-G 37334 with a winning bid of USD 5.6 million. The DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) led the auction which consisted of three lease areas with the potential to host a total installed capacity of over 3.7 gigawatts (GW) in offshore wind.

RWE’s awarded site is 44 miles off the coast of Louisiana and has water depths of 10-25 meters. The lease area has the potential to host up to 2 GW of new capacity, enough to power over 350,000 U.S. homes with clean energy. The project is expected to be in operation by the mid-2030s, contingent upon permitting timelines.

Under Governor John Bel Edwards’ Climate Action Plan Louisiana has set a goal to achieve 5 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035. RWE has made early investments into jumpstarting the offshore wind industry in the region, including a collaboration with Greater New Orleans, Inc. to accelerate the engagement of Louisiana’s supply chain to identify companies with transferable capabilities for offshore wind.

According to a report by the Business Network for Offshore Wind, the Gulf Coast has already received 24 percent of offshore wind contracts in the U.S. Additionally, RWE has a signed Memorandum of Understanding with Entergy, which owns and operates one of the cleanest large-scale US power generation fleets, to evaluate the delivery of clean energy from offshore wind to customers in Louisiana and Texas.

The next step for RWE is to ramp-up outreach with the local community, Tribal Nations, the commercial and recreational fishing industry, and other ocean users; engage with the domestic supply chain to localize content, create new local jobs and private investments.

The U.S. plays a key role in RWE’s strategy to grow its renewables business. In 2022, RWE was successful in two rounds of federal leasing, acquiring commercial scale lease areas on both coasts of the U.S. On the east coast, RWE, as part of a joint venture with National Grid Ventures, is developing Community Offshore Wind, a fixed-bottom project with a potential installed capacity of more than 3 GW. In California, the company is developing one of the first commercial scale floating offshore wind projects with a potential installed capacity of 1.6 GW.

With 8 GW of installed capacity, RWE is the number four renewable energy company in the U.S and the country’s second largest solar owner and operator. RWE’s 1,500 local employees are currently developing a platform of more than 24 GW, one of the largest in the U.S.