Baryonyx’s lease for the 19,794 acre area off the coast of Texas expired earlier this month, writes Valley Morning Star news site.
The Austin-based company failed to make an annual payment of around USD 41,171.52 for the area where they had been planning to develop Texas’ first offshore wind farm.
This came as a result of failing to secure up to USD 47 million in US Energy Department funding for the 18MW demonstration project, as well as for the 300-turbine project off Cameron County in the Gulf of Mexico.
Baryonyx’s second lease for the area which is a part of the 300-turbine project will expire next month if the company does not make a payment of around USD 45,000, according to Texas General Land Office in Austin.
The company had already paid almost USD 0.5 million for the leases which were directed towards funding public education.
“This money belongs to the school children of Texas and it goes right into the Permanent School Fund, which helps pay for the state’s share of K-12 education, keeping local property taxes lower than they would be otherwise,” said Jim Suydam, spokesman for the Texas General Land Office in Austin.