Gov. John Bel Edwards and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Tom Harris have announced that the State Mineral and Energy Board has approved the state’s first-ever wind operating agreements in state offshore waters at its December meeting.
The board approved a 6,162-acre property agreement for Diamond Offshore Wind La (DOW Wind) off the coast of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes and a 59,653-acre agreement for Cajun Wind off the coast of Cameron Parish. The two agreements have different payment structures to the state, with the DOW Wind covering a smaller area, but paying more in up-front costs and rental fees per acre, while the larger agreement with Cajun Wind had a lower per-acre fee for up-front and rental payments but a higher energy royalty over the length of the agreement. While the DOW Wind property agreement paid $308,101 up-front on its 6,100-acre agreement, Cajun Wind paid $357,923 on its 59,000-acre agreement. However, DOW Wind is paying 1.5 percent of gross revenues in energy royalty over the life of the agreement, while Cajun Wind is paying 2.2 percent.
Cajun Wind is a development of Steelhead Americas, Vestas’ North American development arm. Diamond Offshore Wind is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi.
