Golden State Wind and CPP Investments, Wins 2 GW California Wind Energy Lease

The lease area awarded, OCS-P 0564, is one of five sites off the coast of California that was the subject of an auction held by BOEM.

This auction is particularly notable as it is the first floating offshore wind lease sale in the country, and the first offshore wind lease sale of any kind, on the West Coast.

OW has more than 10 years of experience in floating offshore wind, most notably through the development and operation of Windfloat Atlantic, the world's first fully commercially operational floating offshore wind farm.

OW has a substantial portfolio of floating projects in Europe and South Korea and is ideally positioned to bring this technology to the Golden State.

As part of Golden State Wind's winning bid, OW and CPP Investments commit to investing $30 million in workforce development and supply chain initiatives and to work closely with key local stakeholders to maximize the benefits to California from the emerging offshore wind industry.

Michael Brown, the CEO of Ocean Winds North America, noted: "OW is a pioneer of floating offshore wind technology – with nearly 3.7 GW of floating wind projects in development or operations in Portugal, France, South Korea, and the UK – and we are ready to bring our expertise to the U.S. as well. OW currently has about 4 GW of projects already under active development in the Northeastern U.S. and this is the perfect opportunity to further expand our portfolio and contribute to the Federal Government's ambitious floating offshore wind targets. We are pleased to partner with CPP Investments on this project and believe this will be the start of a strong relationship that may extend to future projects in other geographies."

Bruce Hogg, Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Energies at CPP Investments, said: "We are proud that our partnership with Ocean Winds has earned this opportunity to help accelerate the transition to lower-carbon sources of energy for Californians and, more broadly, to serve as an example for other jurisdictions. This investment aligns well with our efforts to reduce carbon emissions across our portfolio while continuing to deliver strong, long-term risk-adjusted returns for the Fund's contributors and beneficiaries."