Eversource exiting offshore wind business

May 26—Eversource on Thursday announced it will be withdrawing from the offshore wind business, selling its stake in a 187,000-acre undeveloped lease area off Massachusetts to its partner Ørsted for $625 million and seeking a buyer for its 50% stake in three planned wind farms.

As part of the agreement, Ørsted said in a statement it would take full ownership of what had been a 50-50 partnership with Eversource at State Pier in New London along with the Port of Providence, the Port of Davisville, and Quonset Point in Rhode Island.

Eversource is a 50-50 partner with Danish offshore wind company Ørsted on the three wind farms it intends to sell, which include South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind. State Pier is expected to be used as one of the staging and assembly hubs for those projects. Construction of South Fork is already under way and State Pier earlier this month hosted the first cargo ship associated with South Fork.

Eversource said it has had multiple bids on its stake in the three offshore wind farms and anticipates an announcement on a sale by the end of June.

Eversource and Ørsted have jointly contributed more than $70 million towards the current $255.5 million price tag of for State Pier reconstruction. The Connecticut Port Authority, which owns State Pier, is expected to announce another cost increase on Tuesday during a special meeting of its board of directors.

Ørsted said in a statement it also plans to take full ownership of the operations and maintenance hub in East Setauket, NY, and the charter agreement for the first American-built offshore wind service operation vessel, which is still under construction.

"I want to thank Eversource for our six-year partnership and for their expertise that has strategically advanced the onshore scopes of our three projects, which will deliver renewable energy to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York," David Hardy, executive vice president and CEO of Region Americas at Ørsted, said in a statement.

"This acquisition further demonstrates our long-term commitment to building an American offshore wind energy industry and the value creation opportunities we see in the US market," he said.

"We have had the pleasure of working alongside Ørsted for more than six years and have experienced first-hand their expertise and global leadership in the offshore wind sector. We continue to expect that offshore wind projects built in our partnership's lease area, including the three now under development, will play a critical role in decarbonizing the generation mix of Southern New England and New York," Joe Nolan, Eversource's president, CEO and chairman, said in a statement.

Eversource said in its statement it plans to use proceeds from the sale of the lease area and its interest in three wind projects to pay off company debt. And while it does not expect to make enough money on the sale to cover its investment, Eversource said "this impairment charge will not impact Eversource's customers."

Eversource's sale of the lease area requires approval of The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

This is a developing story.

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