French energy major TotalEnergies has joined Trident Winds Inc. in the Castle Wind joint venture for the development of a 1 GW floating offshore wind project off the coast of Morro Bay, off the Central California Coast.
The company entered the JV and acquired the shares previously held by EnBW North America.
Castle Wind plans to participate in the anticipated Bureau of Ocean Energy Management lease sale in late 2022.
"TotalEnergies is pleased to bring our global expertise in deploying efficient, large-scale offshore assets to Castle Wind in California. The work completed by the teams in the last years has laid a solid foundation with the local communities, and we look forward to working with them to bring clean energy to the state," said David Foulon, Head of U.S. Offshore Wind at TotalEnergies.
"This partnership in Castle Wind is another important step for TotalEnergies to contribute to the U.S. offshore wind industry ramp-up, and fulfill its global ambition of becoming a top five producer of renewable energy worldwide by 2030."
"Castle Wind welcomes TotalEnergies with its deep commitment to renewable energy to the joint venture and the project team," said Alla Weinstein, CEO of Castle Wind. "We have come a long way since first identifying the opportunity for offshore wind development in California in 2016 and stand today at the precipice of a generational opportunity to secure California's clean energy future.
"We are excited to begin the next chapter of this journey. TotalEnergies' experience and expertise, with over 10 GW of offshore wind projects under development, will be invaluable as we work towards making offshore wind a reality in California."