1st Offshore Wind Lease Sale in Gulf of Maine to Power More than 4.5 Million Homes

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Lease areas have potential to energy over 4.5 million properties

WASHINGTON — The Division of the Inside right now introduced it’s going to maintain an offshore wind vitality lease sale on Oct. 29, 2024, for eight areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. If totally developed, these areas have a possible capability of roughly 13 gigawatts of unpolluted offshore wind vitality, which may energy greater than 4.5 million properties. The announcement follows the Division’s recent announcement that it has accredited greater than 15 gigawatts of unpolluted vitality from offshore wind initiatives for the reason that begin of the Biden-Harris administration— equal to half of the capability wanted to attain President Biden’s aim of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind vitality by 2030.

For the reason that begin of the Biden–Harris administration, the Division has held 5 offshore wind lease gross sales, together with a record-breaking sale offshore New York and gross sales offshore the Pacific, Central Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico, and approved 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects. Earlier this 12 months, Secretary Haaland announced a schedule of potential further lease gross sales by way of 2028.

“The growing enthusiasm for the clean energy future is infectious. Today’s announcement — which builds on the execution of the nation’s first floating offshore wind energy research lease in Maine last month — is the result of years of thoughtful coordination between our team, the Gulf of Maine states, industry and the Tribes and ocean users who share our interest in the health and longevity of our ocean,” mentioned Secretary Deb Haaland. “The Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering commitment to building a vibrant and sustainable offshore clean energy sector is strengthening our fight against the climate crisis and building a healthier, more resilient planet for generations to come.”

“The upcoming Gulf of Maine offshore wind energy auction reflects our all-of-government approach for reaching the Biden-Harris Administration’s energy goals while combatting the climate crisis,” mentioned BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “Together, we can do our part to facilitate a new American industry while fostering job growth and promoting equitable economic opportunities for all communities.”

The President’s Investing in America agenda is rising the American financial system from the center out and backside up – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over half a trillion {dollars} in new personal sector manufacturing and clear vitality investments in america, to creating good-paying jobs and constructing a clear vitality financial system that can fight the local weather disaster and make our communities extra resilient.

Immediately’s announcement is constructed upon one of the best obtainable science, together with the Nationwide Facilities for Coastal Ocean Science’s ecosystem-based spatial suitability modelin addition to over two

years of in depth engagement with Tribes, fishing pursuits, and stakeholders throughout the area. Info gained by way of this engagement, together with public feedback, was instrumental in figuring out the ultimate location, measurement and form of the eight lease areas.

The world included within the Closing Sale Discover (FSN) is roughly 120,000 acres lower than what the Bureau of Ocean Power Administration (BOEM) included in its Proposed Sale Noticewhich was introduced earlier this 12 months. BOEM prioritized the avoidance of offshore fishing grounds, delicate habitats, and present and future vessel transit routes, whereas nonetheless retaining ample acreage to assist the area’s offshore wind vitality targets.

The FSN for the Gulf of Maine public sale contains particulars concerning the public sale, provisions, and circumstances of the leases, the lease kind, info on bidding credit, standards for evaluating competing bids, award procedures, attraction procedures, and lease execution. The FSN contains a number of lease stipulations designed to advertise the event of a strong home U.S. provide chain for floating wind and create good-paying union jobs, advance flexibility in transmission planning, reduce habitat impacts, and accumulate information on protected marine mammals. The FSN will publish within the Federal Register on September 17, 2024.

The issuance of any lease ensuing from this sale doesn’t authorize the development and operations of an offshore wind facility. A lease supplies the precise to submit project-specific plans. Such plans, if submitted, can be topic to environmental, technical, and public opinions previous to a call on whether or not the challenge proposals needs to be accredited.

Particulars on the FSN, together with a map of the lease areas will be discovered on the BOEM’s website.

Courtesy of US Department of the Interior.