USUS BOEM New York Bight ATLW-8 Lease Sale
Also known as: ATLW-8, Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 8, New York Bight lease sale, US BOEM NY Bight lease sale, New York Bight offshore wind auction
Read the full analysis →(22 min read)
ATLW-8 is a pure-price federal seabed lease sale within the BOEM ATLW programme. It awards leases only; project realisation depends on later BOEM plan approvals and, commercially, on separate state offtake competitions such as NYSERDA and NJ BPU OREC rounds. Axis 6 is null because the lease confers no federal revenue-support instrument.
25 → 14 → 6
Ascending · 64 rounds
federal commercial offshore wind lease
—
—
USD 285m–1.10bnm
39 years
—
—
—
—
If the lessee fails to comply with the lease, applicable regulations, or an approved SAP/COP, BOEM may order cessation of operations, suspend or cancel the lease, and/or impose penalties.
Commercial renewable-energy lease on the US Outer Continental Shelf for a designated New York Bight lease area under 30 CFR part 585. The lease grants the exclusive right to submit a Site Assessment Plan (SAP) and Construction and Operations Plan (COP), and to conduct activities authorised under an approved SAP or COP.
→ Required timing for a lessee that wishes to pursue site-assessment activities under the lease.
→ Required timing to continue into the Operations Term.
Late delivery: If the lessee fails to comply with the lease, applicable regulations, or an approved SAP/COP, BOEM may order cessation of operations, suspend or cancel the lease, and/or impose penalties.
Winning cash bonus bid balance payable within 10 business days after the provisional winner receives the lease copies; BOEM executes the lease only after payment, signed lease return, and required financial assurance are processed. Combined winning bonus bids across the six leases totalled USD 4.37 billion.
USD 4,370,000,000 USD
Trigger: Within 10 business days after the provisional winner receives the lease copies for execution; payment is a condition precedent to BOEM execution of the lease.
Annual lease rent of USD 3.00 per acre or fraction thereof. Before commercial operations, rent is based on leased acreage; after commercial operations, rent remains payable on undeveloped or non-operating acreage.
USD 3 USD per acre per year
Trigger: First year's rent is due within 45 calendar days of receiving the lease copies for execution; subsequent annual rent is due on or before each Lease Anniversary.
Duration: 39 years
Anchor: until event
Annual operating fee during the 33-year Operations Term, calculated under Addendum B as a percentage-based charge on nominal gross revenue using BOEM's formula. Standard rate is 2%; if the lessee satisfies at least 4 of 8 domestic-content conditions under Addendum C §7.2, BOEM may reduce the operating-fee rate to 1% for 5 years, then 2% thereafter. This is an operations-phase incentive, not an auction-stage bidding credit.
USD 2 percent
Trigger: Initial prorated operating fee is due within 45 calendar days after commencement of commercial operations; subsequent annual operating fees are due on or before each Lease Anniversary.
Duration: 33 years
Anchor: fixed year count
Single-factor, cash-only ascending multi-round English auction conducted online by BOEM across six lease areas in parallel. BOEM starts at the minimum bid price for each lease area and raises asking prices round by round on oversubscribed areas until each lease area has one or zero live bids.
Reserve: USD 100 USD per acre — Minimum opening and minimum acceptable winning bid set by BOEM.
Stop: The auction continues as long as at least one Lease Area has two or more live bids; it ends when each Lease Area has one or zero live bids.
Selection: In each round, bidders may place a live bid at the asking price for at most one Lease Area; uncontested bids carry forward automatically.
Disclosure: BOEM discloses lease-area bid counts and next-round asking prices after each round.
Only entities determined by BOEM to be legally, technically, and financially qualified under 30 CFR 585.106 and 585.107 could participate. BOEM listed 25 eligible bidders.
Each bidder had to submit an original, executed Bidder's Financial Form by the BOEM deadline to participate in the mock auction and monetary auction.
Each bidder had to submit a USD 5,000,000 bid deposit by the deadline to participate.
Affiliated eligible bidders were not permitted to compete against each other and had to determine which affiliated entity, if any, would participate.
Method: quantitative formula
Unit: USD
- maximise total bid value subject to constraints — If identical highest exit bids remain unresolved for unassigned Lease Areas, BOEM selects the combination of bids that maximises the total bid value subject to one lease per bidder and one bid per lease.
- pseudorandom combination selection — If two or more bid combinations produce the same maximised total value, the auction system selects one of the tied combinations by pseudorandom number generation.
No revenue-support instrument. Revenue comes from downstream offtake contracts, merchant markets, or bilateral PPAs.
Legal basis: Administers and awards the lease sale under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 §388, OCSLA subsection 8(p), and 30 CFR part 585.
Legal basis: Department-level policy owner for federal offshore wind leasing.
Legal basis: Ultimate federal fiscal recipient of lease-sale proceeds.
Legal basis: Federal environmental and wildlife consultation authorities involved in environmental review for leased areas and subsequent project approvals.
NYSERDA offshore wind OREC solicitations are downstream state offtake competitions that NY Bight lease winners are commercially expected to enter for revenue support.
New Jersey BPU offshore wind OREC solicitations are downstream state offtake competitions that NY Bight lease winners are commercially expected to enter for revenue support.
| Winner | Site/Lot | Category | Awarded MW | Price | Total Value | Delivery | Term | Mechanism | Signed | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluepoint Wind, LLC | OCS-A 0537 | commercial lease | — | USD 765,000,000m | 765,000,000 | — | — | auction clearing | — | offered and signed |
| Attentive Energy LLC | OCS-A 0538 | commercial lease | — | USD 795,000,000m | 795,000,000 | — | — | auction clearing | — | offered and signed |
| Community Offshore Wind, LLC | OCS-A 0539 | commercial lease | — | USD 1,100,000,000m | 1,100,000,000 | — | — | auction clearing | — | offered and signed |
| Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Bight, LLC | OCS-A 0541 | commercial lease | — | USD 780,000,000m | 780,000,000 | — | — | auction clearing | — | offered and signed |
| Invenergy Wind Offshore LLC | OCS-A 0542 | commercial lease | — | USD 645,000,000m | 645,000,000 | — | — | auction clearing | — | offered and signed |
| Vineyard Mid-Atlantic LLC | OCS-A 0544 | commercial lease | — | USD 285,000,000m | 285,000,000 | — | — | auction clearing | — | offered and signed |