Copenhagen
Offshore Partners (COP) says it has won a contract to lead both early and
late-stage development for what could become Canada’s first offshore wind
project – a 180MW array in St. Georges Bay west of Newfoundland.
COP did not
release terms of the deal awarded by Danish fund manager Copenhagen Investment
Partners (CIP), which last September announced it would invest all capital
required to build the facility in partnership with Beothuk Energy, based in the
provincial capital of St. John’s.
COP says it
will oversee development jointly with Beothuk until finalisation of a power
purchase agreement, and then lead the project to financial close and through
the construction phase in cooperation with the local company. It was not
immediately clear when construction would begin.
Beothuk has
talked with potential buyers for the electricity in several Canadian provinces
and New England region in the US. It has not set a deadline for completing a
power off-take arrangement.
St. George’s
Bay could take advantage of Emera’s Maritime Link, a high-voltage subsea
transmission project under construction that will connect Newfoundland for the
first time with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the six-state ISO New England
market. It will enable export of 500MW of renewable power.
Beothuk has
eyed the US state of Massachusetts as a possible market, which now has a legal
mandate to procure 1.6GW of offshore wind energy by 2027. Later this month,
electric utilities there are expected to release an offshore wind request for
proposals for as much as 800MW of initial capacity, with winners to be
announced next year.
CIP, however,
is expected to submit supply bids itself after acquiring a strategically
located 1GW zone facing the Massachusetts coast last year. In May, it sold a
50% stake in the Vineyard Wind project to Avangrid Renewables.
Beothuk says
St. George’s Bay will supply electricity to more than 150,000 households, create
more than 500 jobs during the construction phase and establish a new industry
in Atlantic Canada.
Beothuk, which
has been developing the project since 2011, has held talks with Siemens for
supply of unspecified turbines, but no firm contracts have been signed. It
lists Siemens as a “strategic partner” on its website.
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