Deepwater Wind offshore wind farm at Block Island, Rhode Island.

Deepwater Wind offshore wind farm at Block Island, Rhode Island. Credit: Newsday /Mark Harrington

Eversource, a New England utility and a 50-50 partner of two planned offshore wind farms for Long Island, has hired consultants to explore selling its interest in the wind ventures, the company said.

Eversource is a partner with Denmark-based Orsted on the South Fork Wind Farm, which is scheduled to supply up to 130-megawatts of power to the South Fork by late 2023, and Sunrise Wind, which will bring 924-megawatts to the Long Island grid by 2025. It’s also a partner on a third project, Revolution Wind, which is planned to bring 704 megawatts of power to Rhode Island and Connecticut.

With the release of its most recent financial results, Eversource disclosed Thursday that it had hired two investment firms to explore the sale of part or all of its 50% interest in the ventures in a move already approved by Eversource’s board of trustees.

Eversource chief executive Joe Nolan said the potential sale was prompted by “record-setting prices” for other wind-farm leases in a recent federal auction for sites off the coast of Long Island and New Jersey. The review of a potential sale is expected to be completed this year, he said.

Top Eversource officials were on hand in East Hampton earlier this year when Gov. Kathy Hochul celebrated groundbreaking for the South Fork Wind Farm and its highly contested underground cable through Wainscott. A federal court last month denied four homeowners' requests to stop construction, which opponents say could release harmful underground toxins.

Any potential sale of Eversource offshore wind assets will “allow us to create shareholder value and continue building a leading clean-energy company that is wholly supportive of our region’s climate change goals,” Nolan said in a statement. He added that the company “remains committed to supporting offshore wind with advocacy, transmission investment solutions, and clean energy resource integration.”

Another wind-farm developer for New York, Norway-based Equinor, in 2020 announced it had sold a 50% stake in its Empire Wind projects to energy giant bp, formerly British Petroleum. 

Eversource said revenue derived from any potential sale would likely be put into “strengthening, modernizing and decarbonizing” the company’s existing energy grid and water delivery systems.

In addition to the three wind farms, Eversource and Orsted are lease-holding partners on around 175,000 acres of offshore wind-energy areas in U.S. waters that haven't been assigned projects.   

Man guilty for burning women … Records: Blakeman took $16,000 pay hike … What's up on LI Credit: Newsday

Updated 8 minutes ago Family, mourners at wake for slain NYPD cop ... SBU pulls mascot from competition ... Body scanners at NYC subway ... Female jockey

Man guilty for burning women … Records: Blakeman took $16,000 pay hike … What's up on LI Credit: Newsday

Updated 8 minutes ago Family, mourners at wake for slain NYPD cop ... SBU pulls mascot from competition ... Body scanners at NYC subway ... Female jockey

Newsday LogoSUBSCRIBEUnlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 5 months
ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME