> the fees paid for the leases for these projects were so high that the projects would not be economically viable in the first place.

Can you explain where you got your information from?

* The leases were already paid for (in total) in 2022-2023 for $1bn.

* The expected output would have been 7gigawatts annually, which is a 5-7x return per year on paper.

* The sale of the lease is due to a regulatory blockade, not a traditional cost benefit analysis.