Magellan Wind and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), on behalf of the fund Copenhagen Infrastructure III K/S, have entered into a partnership for the development of an early-stage development portfolio of floating offshore wind projects off the California coast and other areas of the U.S.
Magellan Wind was founded in 2014 by Jim Lanard and Jeff Kehne. Lanard was previously founder and president of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition (OffshoreWindDC), managing director for Deepwater Wind and head of strategy for Bluewater Wind. Kehne has served as counsel and regulatory policy advisor to Bluewater Wind, other offshore wind developers, and the American Wind Energy Association and OffshoreWindDC.
Magellan’s development work is also supported by two senior advisors: Henrik Stiesdal, formerly chief technology officer for Siemens Wind Power, founder of Stiesdal Offshore Technologies and inventor of the TetraSpar floating wind turbine foundation, and Dan Reicher, executive director of Stanford’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, formerly assistant secretary of energy for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and Google’s director of climate change and energy initiatives.
Founded in 2012, CIP is a fund management company that currently has four funds and more than $8 billion under management. CIP’s collaboration with Magellan is its second U.S. offshore wind initiative; along with Avangrid Renewables, the company co-owns Vineyard Wind, a Massachusetts offshore wind development company.
“The offshore wind industry in the U.S., with its huge job creation and economic development potential, is poised for a rapid acceleration,” says Lanard. “We expect floating wind to be a significant contributor to this new-to-the-U.S. sustainable industry. We’re thrilled that we’ll be working with CIP to make the most of this exciting opportunity.”
“We are looking forward to participating in these early-stage projects together with Magellan,” adds Hannibal. “We see significant potential for offshore wind in California, as the state has set very ambitious goals for adoption of renewable energy.”
Jeff Kehne, Magellan’s chief development officer, says Magellan plans to develop
small- and large-scale offshore wind projects in deep coastal waters where floating foundations are required.
