Ocean Winds has bought Shell's half of the SouthCoast Wind offshore project off Massachusetts and now owns all of it. Five months earlier the project had walked away from both of its power contracts and paid $60 million to do so. Ocean Winds has doubled its exposure to a 2.4 GW wind farm that, for now, has nobody lined up to buy its electricity.
Key takeaways
- Ocean Winds, the offshore wind joint venture of EDPR and ENGIE, acquired Shell's 50 percent stake in the 2.4 GW SouthCoast Wind project in the United States, announced on 20 March 2024, taking 100 percent ownership.
- Enerdatics records a value of $360 million for the SouthCoast Wind stake, which equals about $0.30 million per MW once grossed up to the full 2.4 GW; the deal value was not disclosed in the announcement, and early reports put it nearer $400 million.
- SouthCoast Wind terminated its two 20-year power purchase agreements with three Massachusetts utilities in October 2023, paying $60 million in termination fees, and was expected to rebid in the 2024 Massachusetts offshore wind procurement.
- Ocean Winds intends to bring in a new 50 percent partner in SouthCoast Wind ahead of the final investment decision.
- Enerdatics records five early-stage US offshore wind stake sales priced between 2023 and 2024 at $0.30 million to $0.35 million per MW after gross-up, with SouthCoast Wind at the bottom of that cluster.
Why did SouthCoast Wind give up its power contracts?
Because the contracts no longer covered the cost of building the project. SouthCoast Wind, formerly known as Mayflower Wind, won 800 MW in a Massachusetts solicitation in 2019 and a further 400 MW in 2021. Both awards became 20-year power purchase agreements with three Massachusetts utilities.
A power purchase agreement fixes the price a buyer pays for a project's electricity over a long period. Prices set in 2019 and 2021 could not absorb what followed. The joint venture partners said the contracts were no longer workable given rising interest rates, inflation, supply chain disruption and the war in Ukraine. In October 2023 SouthCoast Wind terminated both and paid $60 million in fees to exit.
That left a project with a lease, a grid plan and no revenue contract. The plan was to rebid in the 2024 Massachusetts procurement at a price that reflected current costs.
What exactly does Ocean Winds now own?
A 2.4 GW development project near Nantucket, covering 127,388 acres within a 199 square mile federal lease, OCS-A 0521, awarded at auction by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The project is still conducting baseline surveys, stakeholder outreach, engineering and permitting work, and needs approvals at local, regional, state and federal level.
The grid sets the shape of the build. The ISO New England interconnection process limits a single transmission circuit to 1.2 GW, so SouthCoast Wind must be developed in two phases. The first phase is planned to connect 1.2 GW at Brayton Point in Somerset, Massachusetts. Brayton Point is also being evaluated for the second 1.2 GW, with Falmouth as an alternative depending on grid capacity and the timing of upgrades.
So Ocean Winds has bought certainty of control rather than certainty of revenue. It can now set the rebid strategy alone, and it says it will look for a new 50 percent partner before the final investment decision, the point at which the owners commit to construction.
What does the $360 million figure measure?
Half of the project, not all of it. Leap stores a value per MW of $0.15 million, which divides the $360 million by the full 2,400 MW. But Shell sold only its 50 percent. Grossing the price up to 100 percent gives an implied value of $720 million for the whole project, or about $0.30 million per MW.
The announcement itself did not disclose a price. Enerdatics records $360 million, which is lower than the figure of around $400 million given in early reports of the deal. This post uses the Enerdatics value.
That gross-up matters for every comparison that follows. A half-stake measured against full capacity looks half as expensive as it really is, and would place SouthCoast Wind well below every comparable US deal.
Is $0.30 million per MW cheap for a US offshore wind lease?
It is in line with the other early-stage stake sales, at the low end of the group. Enerdatics' data shows 14 US offshore wind M&A records since the start of 2023, nine of them with a disclosed value. Grossed up to 100 percent, five development-stage lease and stake sales between 2023 and 2024 cluster tightly: SouthCoast Wind at $0.30 million per MW, Orsted's purchase of Eversource's share of uncontracted seabed at $0.31 million, BP's purchase of Equinor's half of Beacon Wind at $0.31 million, Orsted's buyout of Eversource in Sunrise Wind at $0.33 million, and the sale of TotalEnergies' 44 percent of Attentive Energy at $0.35 million.
The Beacon figure needs a caveat. It was one side of an exchange in which Equinor and BP split Empire Wind and Beacon Wind between them, which the parties described as cash-neutral. Dominion's purchase of the 800 MW Kitty Hawk North lease from Iberdrola for $160 million, at $0.20 million per MW, sits below the cluster.
Projects further along trade on a different scale entirely. Global Infrastructure Partners paid about $3.41 million per MW, grossed up, for half of Revolution Wind and South Fork, which were in construction, and Stonepeak's stake in Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind came to about $3.88 million per MW on Enerdatics' $5.045 billion valuation of that transaction. The gap between roughly $0.30 million and more than $3 million per MW is the value of getting a project through permitting, contracting and into construction.
What does the deal signal for US offshore wind?
It shows Shell stepping back from US offshore leases while its partners consolidate ownership. Shell sold its SouthCoast stake to its partner, and in October 2025 Enerdatics records Shell selling its half of the 7 GW Atlantic Shores portfolio to its other partner, EDF. In both cases the remaining partner ended up with full ownership.
It also shows that an uncontracted lease still trades. SouthCoast Wind changed hands at a price close to its peers despite having cancelled its revenue contracts. Buyers in this cluster are paying for seabed, grid access and permitting progress, and pricing the contract risk into a later round.
The next test is the partner search. Ocean Winds wants a 50 percent co-owner before committing to build. The price that partner pays, once a new power contract is in place, will show how much value the Massachusetts rebid adds to a lease that currently trades at about $0.30 million per MW.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns SouthCoast Wind after the Shell sale? Ocean Winds, the offshore wind joint venture between EDPR and ENGIE, owns 100 percent of SouthCoast Wind after buying Shell's 50 percent stake, announced on 20 March 2024.
How much did Ocean Winds pay Shell for SouthCoast Wind? The price was not disclosed in the announcement. Enerdatics records a value of $360 million for the 50 percent stake, about $0.30 million per MW grossed up, which is lower than the roughly $400 million in early reports.
Did SouthCoast Wind have a power purchase agreement when Ocean Winds bought out Shell? No. The project terminated its two 20-year contracts with three Massachusetts utilities in October 2023, paying $60 million in fees, and was expected to rebid in the 2024 Massachusetts procurement.
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