Offshore

Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease auction set for August

Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease auction set for August
FILE - Numerous wind turbines, including some from RWE's new Kaskasi offshore wind farm, can be seen during the commissioning of the wind farm off Helgoland, Germany, March 23, 2023. The wind power industry on Monday, March 27, projected growth to rapidly accelerate this year, with incentives and policy changes in key nations helping to overcome factors that led to a slowdown in 2022. (Christian Charisius/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The U.S. Dept. of the Interior announced it will hold the first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 29.

The areas to be auctioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have the potential to generate approximately 3.7 GW and power almost 1.3 million homes with clean, renewable energy, the agency said.

The Gulf of Mexico lease auction announcement follows the Biden administration’s third approval earlier this month of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States.

The Final Sale Notice, which will publish in the Federal Register on July 21, 2023, includes a 102,480-acre area offshore Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two areas offshore Galveston, Texas, one comprising 102,480 acres and the other 96,786 acres. The FSN provides detailed information about the final lease areas, lease provisions and conditions, and auction details. It also identifies qualified companies who can participate in the lease auction.

Earlier this year, the Department announced the Proposed Sale Notice for offshore wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico. During the 60-day comment period, BOEM received comments on several lease stipulations that supported BOEM’s commitment to engage with underserved communities, ocean users and other stakeholders. Some of these stipulations, which are part of the FSN, include:

  • Bidding credits to bidders who commit to supporting workforce training programs, developing a domestic supply chain for the offshore wind energy industry,
  • Bidding credits for establishing and contributing to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund or contributing to an existing fund to mitigate potential negative impacts to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries caused by offshore wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico, and
  • Requiring that lessees provide a regular progress report summarizing engagement with Tribes and ocean users potentially affected by proposed offshore wind energy activities.

BOEM expects to review at least 16 Construction and Operations Plans of commercial, offshore wind energy facilities by 2025, which would represent more than 27 GW of clean energy for the nation.