RWE, Entergy team up to study offshore wind in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Power Magazine:

U.S. utility Entergy and global power giant RWE are partnering to jointly assess the best means to develop an offshore wind market in the Gulf of Mexico.

The two companies on March 30 unveiled a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which they will analyze the Gulf of Mexico offshore wind market and define an optimal route-to-market. RWE and Entergy said the analyses will include “resource economics, transmission analysis to ensure reliability;  economic impacts extending to direct and indirect job creation; and curricula to prepare the workforce of the future.”

The MoU comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI’s) first-ever proposed offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed sale notice, issued on Feb. 22, identifies a 102,480-acre area offshore Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two areas offshore Galveston, Texas, one comprising 102,480 acres and the other comprising 96,786 acres.

The announcement comes the same day that Hitachi Energy was chosen to provide infrastructure to support offshore wind in Europe as part of a $14 billion deal with transmission system operator TenneT.

According to Entergy and RWE, the Gulf of Mexico effort serves as “an important early step” to potentially bring wind power to industrial customers in Texas and Louisiana. For Entergy, which serves a four-state territory that comprises a sizable industrial hub, the prospect opens up new pathways to expand its existing renewable resources.

[Sonal Patel]

More: Entergy, RWE Partner to Assess Offshore Wind Prospects in Gulf of Mexico