The US Department of Interior (DOI) will hold an offshore wind lease sale in the Central Atlantic in August this year, with the two areas auctioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) potentially generating up to 6.3 GW of renewable energy.
BOEM will hold the auction on 14 August, featuring one area located offshore the states of Delaware and Maryland, and another area offshore Virginia.
Lease Area A-2 consists of 101,443 acres and is approximately 26 nautical miles (about 41 kilometres) from Delaware Bay. Lease Area C-1 covers 176,505 acres and is located approx. 35 nautical miles (about 65 kilometres) from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
According to BOEM, the two areas have the potential to power up to 2.2 million homes.
Seventeen companies have qualified to bid in the auction: Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, Avangrid Renewables, BP Central Atlantic Offshore Wind, Corio USA Projectco, energyRE offshore Wind Holdings, Equinor Wind US, Invenergy Central Atlantic Offshore, OW North America Ventures, Reventus Power Central Atlantic, RWE Offshore US CATL, Seaglass Offshore Wind II (EDF Renewables), Shell New Energies US, TotalEnergies Renewables USA, US Mainstream Renewable Power, US Wind, Vineyard Central Atlantic, and Virginia Electric and Power Company.
“We are excited to announce this sale and underscore our commitment to explore additional areas in the Central Atlantic for potential offshore wind energy development. BOEM will continue to work with all ocean users to ensure offshore wind energy proceeds in an environmentally responsible manner,” said Elizabeth Klein, BOEM Director.
The proposed lease sale for the Central Atlantic was announced by DOI at the end of last year. In June, BOEM finalized the environmental review of potential offshore wind lease activities in the Central Atlantic.
BOEM said it 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 intergovernmental efforts include the advancement of a December 2023 commitment and June 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that outline joint work by the Biden-Harris administration and the State of Maryland to evaluate additional areas off Maryland’s shores that could become wind energy areas.
Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department has approved the nation’s first eight commercial-scale offshore wind 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 twelve additional lease sales through 2028.
