Offshore

US announces offshore wind auction for Central Atlantic

US announces offshore wind auction for Central Atlantic
(Photo by Nicholas Doherty on Unsplash)

The Department of the Interior announced it will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale in the Central Atlantic on August 14, and the areas to be auctioned could generate up to 6.3 GW of energy.

The Final Sale Notice (FSN), which will publish in the Federal Register on July 1, includes one area offshore the states of Delaware and Maryland, and one area offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lease Area A-2 consists of 101,443 acres and is approximately 26 nautical miles (nm) from Delaware Bay. Lease Area C-1 consists of 176,505 acres and is approximately 35 nm from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Seventeen companies qualified to participate in the August sale.  

“Across America’s coasts, we continue to see excitement and momentum for the Biden-Harris administration’s pursuit of a clean energy future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “We are taking action to jumpstart America’s offshore wind energy industry and using American innovation to deliver reliable, affordable power to homes and businesses, while also addressing the climate crisis. As we do, we are working collaboratively with states, Tribes and stakeholders to ensure we are making smart decisions and efficient use of our nation’s offshore resources.”  

BOEM partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to develop an ecosystem-based ocean planning model that assisted in the selection of the final lease areas. The FSN contains information about the areas available for leasing, certain lease provisions and conditions, auction details, criteria for evaluating competing bids, and procedures for lease award, appeals, and lease execution. 

BOEM is including several lease stipulations and bidding credits that would reaffirm its commitment to create jobs and engage with ocean users and other stakeholders. Some of these stipulations, which are part of the FSN, include: 

  • Providing a 12.5% bidding credit to bidders who commit to supporting workforce training programs for the offshore wind industry, developing a domestic supply chain for the offshore wind industry, or a combination of both. 
  • Providing a 12.5% bidding credit to bidders who establish and contribute to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund or contribute to an existing fund to mitigate potential negative impacts from offshore wind energy development in the Central Atlantic to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries. 
  • Stipulations that lessees make “every reasonable effort” to enter into a project labor agreement covering the construction stage of any project for the lease areas; communication plans for Tribes, agencies, and fisheries; and semi-annual reports on engagement activities with Tribes and communities.

BOEM will also continue to convene the Central Atlantic Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force to enhance collaboration and to explore and identify potential additional areas for future offshore wind leasing. These ongoing intergovernmental efforts include advancement of a December 2023 commitment and June 2024 Memorandum of Understanding that outline joint work by the Biden administration and the State of Maryland to evaluate additional areas off Maryland’s shores that could become wind energy areas and support the development of offshore wind projects.

“Today’s announcement is a significant step forward in our region’s embrace of offshore wind as a way to meet growing energy demand,” said Katharine Kollins, President of the Southeastern Wind Coalition. “With the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project currently under construction, Virginia leads the Southeast in offshore wind economic development. Additional WEAs in close proximity to Virginia will only strengthen the Commonwealth’s position as an offshore wind hub on the East Coast.”

Since the start of the Biden administration, the Department has approved the nation’s first eight commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects in federal waters. BOEM has held four offshore wind lease sales, including offshore New York, New Jersey, and the Carolinas, and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The Department recently announced a schedule of up to 12 additional lease sales through 2028.