Option Agreement
Gridlync land and infrastructure glossary.
An option agreement gives a developer the right, but not the obligation, to lease or purchase a property within a set period, usually for an option fee. It secures site control during development and diligence before a long-term commitment. The fee buys an exclusive right to lock in the deal, and the option period gives time to complete surveys, permitting, and interconnection studies. If the developer exercises, the pre-negotiated lease or purchase terms take effect; if not, the landowner keeps the fee and the land is free again.
Option periods convert to leases on hard deadlines. Gridlync alerts teams ahead of every option date so site control is never lost to a missed deadline.
Example
Vanguard Wind pays the Olsen family $30 per acre per year for a three-year option over 1,200 acres. The option fixes the future lease rate, and once Vanguard confirms the wind resource and secures interconnection, it exercises to start a 35-year lease.