Aug 14 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor ( EQNR ) and U.S.

power company Dominion were the winning bidders in a U.S.

government offshore wind auction of two areas off the coasts of

Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, the U.S. Interior Department

said on Wednesday.

The offshore wind lease sale generated less than $93 million

in winning bids, making it among the least lucrative of those

held by the Biden administration.

U.S. President Joe Biden has put the development of offshore

wind at the forefront of his climate change agenda, but the

industry has stumbled in the last year due to soaring costs and

supply chain disruptions.

Equinor ( EQNR ) bid $75 million for a 101,443-acre lease 26 miles

(42 km) from Delaware Bay. Dominion's Virginia Electric and

Power Co won a 176,505-acre lease 35 miles from Chesapeake Bay

for $17.65 million. Six companies participated in the auction,

the Interior Department said.

Both Equinor ( EQNR ) and Dominion are already developing offshore

wind projects in U.S. waters.

"Offshore wind is critical to our all-of-the-above

approach to meet the unprecedented growth of our customer

electric demand over the next decade," Dominion CEO Robert Blue

said in a statement. "Winning this lease area gives us another

low-cost option to meet that growing demand while providing our

customers with reliable, affordable and increasing clean

energy."

Equinor ( EQNR ) said its newest U.S. lease would not produce

power until after 2035.

"We will take a disciplined approach to minimize risk

and mature a robust project in our portfolio," Pal Eitrheim,

executive vice president of Equinor Renewables, said in a

statement.

Last month, the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management canceled a planned sale of offshore wind leases in

the Gulf of Mexico due to a lack of industry interest. An

auction held there last year resulted in the sale of just one of

three offered leases for $5.6 million.

The Interior Department plans to hold offshore wind auctions

later this year for areas off the coast of Oregon and in the

Gulf of Maine.