Who is developing the proposed Humboldt offshore wind project?

The two lease areas in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA) (1) were provisionally leased by two private companies through the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s lease auction (2) in December 2022. AS of April 3, 2026, BOEM has consolidated (14) with The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to form the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA). This makes the MMA the agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior responsible for regulating the development activities for offshore wind in the federal waters of the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS-P). It also means the MMA is responsible for overseeing safety and environmental requirements for offshore wind facility design, fabrication, installation, operation, and decommissioning.

The two lease areas in the Humboldt WEA. Source: BOEM (3)

The German energy company RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC (4) provisionally won the lease for OCS-P 0561 (5), shown in blue on the map above and comprising 63,338 acres, for $157.7 million. RWE signed a lease in June 2023, and has named its Humboldt wind project the Canopy Offshore Wind Farm (6). Their lease allows RWE the possibility of developing a wind farm, but does not guarantee it, as there are a number of additional steps to be taken for environmental assessment, project design, and permitting that must first be completed. For over 20 years, RWE has built and now operates 19 offshore wind farms across the globe, including 2.3 gigawatts (GW) of fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines in the New York Bight (7) (a term used to describe six areas off the coast of New York and New Jersey where wind farms can be developed). They have also developed and now operate several dozen onshore wind and solar farms across the U.S. and the world. You can contact RWE regarding the Canopy Offshore Wind Farm here (8).

The Danish clean energy company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) (9) provisionally won the lease for OCS-P 0562 (10), shown in pink on the map above and comprising 69,031 acres, for $173.8 million, and signed a lease in June 2023. With 12 offices around the world, CIP invests in renewable energy infrastructure projects, including offshore and onshore wind, solar photovoltaics, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X. ​​CIP’s Humboldt wind farm project is being developed by Vineyard Offshore (11), currently under the name California North Floating, LLC (10). You can contact Vineyard Offshore here (12).

Watch this video from BOEM (now MMA) discussing offshore wind’s history, how it works, and the steps the agency takes to work with many stakeholders when planning offshore wind development (13):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEAiyd4Yi5M&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boem.gov%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE

References​

1. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (n.d.). Humboldt Wind Energy Area. www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/humboldt-wind-energy-area 

2. Vanderheiden, I. (2022, December 5). North Coast Tribes Advocate for ‘Meaningful, Impactful Partnership’ with Potential Developers Ahead of Tomorrow’s Highly Anticipated Offshore Wind Lease Auction. Lost Coast Outpost. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2022/dec/5/boem-offshore-wind-lease-auction/ 

3. Sims, H. (2022, October 18). IT’S ON: Humboldt Offshore Wind Leases to Go Up For Auction on Dec. 6. Lost Coast Outpost. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2022/oct/18/its-humboldt-offshore-wind-leases-go-auction-dec-6/ 

4. RWE. (2024). https://americas.rwe.com/our-energy/offshore-wind/ 

5. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (n.d.). RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC (OCS-P 0561). www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/rwe-offshore-wind-holdings-llc-ocs-p-0561 

6. RWE. (2024). Canopy Offshore Wind Farm. https://canopyoffshorewind.com/Home 

7. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (2024). New York Bight. www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-york-bight 

8. RWE. (2024). Contact. https://canopyoffshorewind.com/Home/contact 

9. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. (n.d.). www.cip.com/ 

10. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (n.d.). California North Floating LLC (OCS-P 0562). www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/california-north-floating-llc-ocs-p-0562

11. Vineyard Offshore. (n.d.). The Future of Offshore Wind is Floating. www.vineyardoffshore.com/california 

12. Vineyard Offshore. (n.d.). Contact Us. www.vineyardoffshore.com/contact-us 

13. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (2019, June 18). BOEM Renewable Energy Whiteboard [Video]. www.boem.gov/newsroom/videos/boem-renewable-energy-whiteboard

14. U.S. Department of the Interior. (2026). Department of the Interior Begins Transition to Marine Minerals Administration. https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-begins-transition-marine-minerals-administration