Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, flickr
Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, flickr
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BOSTON (AP) - A lease auction of about 390,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts for the development of offshore wind energy has drawn a record $405 million in winning bids.

If fully developed, the areas could generate about 4.1 gigawatts of energy - enough to power nearly 1.5 million homes.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Friday the auction was the nation's eighth competitive lease sale for the development of offshore wind projects and smashed the previous record of $42 million for an area off New York in 2016.

The provisional winners of the auction were Equinor Wind, Mayflower Wind Energy, and Vineyard Wind. They bid $135 million each for three similarly-sized parcels of approximately 132,000 acres.

The areas are located about 20 miles from Martha's Vineyard and 44 miles from Block Island.

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