Eversource working its way out of wind farm development ventures

Stake in offshore lease areas to be sold for $625 million

Eversource has announced plans to sell its 50 percent stake in offshore wind lease areas totaling 175,000 square miles off the coast of Massachusetts for $625 million to its wind partner, Danish energy giant Orsted.

Last May, Eversource CEO Joe Nolan announced the company was looking to cash in on its offshore wind holdings to pay off company debt and focus on connecting upcoming wind projects to the onshore electric grid.

Eversource, which operates electric, water and gas companies in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts, said it will use the cash proceeds from the sale to pay down debt it acquired in developing the partnership with Orsted. It recently told investors that it plans to write off about $220 million to $280 million from its offshore wind assets when it completes the sale of its stake.

The company also is in the process of getting the company completely out of wind farm development. It is currently looking to sell its 50 percent ownership stake in the South Fork wind project, which is under construction 35 miles east of Montauk Point on Long Island and is scheduled to begin operating this fall. It also has its interests in two other projects – Sunrise Wind, also located off Montauk, and Revolution Wind, located 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast.

Eversource expects to announce the buyer of its ownership stake in all three projects by the end of June, company officials said.

CEO Nolan said in a press release that Eversource remains “fully committed to being a catalyst in the region’s clean energy transition,” as its regulated utilities in New England will build many of the facilities to connect offshore wind generation to the region’s electric grid. “We share the same goals as the states in which we operate when it comes to building the clean energy delivery systems of the future,” Nolan said in the release.