It appears that a winner has emerged in a federal auction for one of the leases up for grabs to develop wind power in waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In the fourth round of the auction for a lease to the south area of the development zone in Rhode Island Sound, only one of the two participating companies had made the $94,153 bid set by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Although Providence-based Deepwater Wind had said before the auction that it would be bidding, it is not clear which among eight other qualified bidders was competing in the auction. An auction update released by the bureau did not name the company that made the high bid on the south area.
The auction for lease in the north area, which is considered more suitable for development, was continuing, according to the 1 p.m. update, with both companies making the fourth round bid of $535,071.