Statoil interested in Hawaii offshore opportunity

Norwegian firm Statoil (OSL:STL) has expressed interest in developing offshore wind projects in Hawaii waters, joining a list that already includes Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind Inc and Danish firm Alpha Wind Energy.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in June launched a call to weigh the wind industry's interest in acquiring commercial leases for offshore wind development near Oahu. Two areas spanning roughly 485,000 acres (196,270 hectares) have been identified for that purpose.

A document by the BOEM shows Statoil Wind US LLC has nominated the entire Oahu Call Area in response to the Call for Information and Nominations. Progression Hawaii has maintained its area of interest as submitted in its October 2015 unsolicited lease request, which envisaged a 400-MW wind farm.

AW Hawaii Wind LLC (AW Hawaii), on the other hand, has expanded on the areas of commercial interest from their January 2015 unsolicited lease requests and nominated some lease blocks outside the Oahu Call Area. Its initial proposal was for over 800 MW of capacity.

After a review of the submissions to assess filing completeness, BOEM has determined that the parties are legally, technically, and financially qualified to hold an Outer Continental Shelf renewable energy commercial lease.

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