US to hold Mid-Atlantic offshore wind lease sale in August, 6.3 GW up for grabs

This August, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) will hold a mid-Atlantic offshore wind lease sale, with two sites to be auctioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) potentially generating up to 6.3 GW of renewable energy.

BOEM will be organize an auction on August 14thconsisting of one area offshore Delaware and Maryland and another area offshore Virginia.

The A-2 lease area covers 101,443 acres and is located approximately 26 nautical miles (approximately 41 kilometers) from the Delaware Bay. The C-1 lease area covers 176,505 acres and is located approximately 35 nautical miles (approximately 65 kilometers) from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

According to BOEM, both areas have the potential to provide electricity to 2.2 million homes.

Seventeen companies qualified to participate in the August sale, according to the announcement of the final sale published in the Federal Register on July 1.

“We are pleased to announce this sale and underscore our commitment to exploring additional areas in the Central Atlantic for potential offshore wind development. BOEM will continue to work with all ocean users to ensure that offshore wind occurs in an environmentally responsible manner.” he said Elizabeth KleinDirector of BOEM.

The proposed lease sale for Central Atlantic was announced by DOI late last year. In June, BOEM finalized an environmental review of potential offshore wind leasing activities in Central Atlantic.

BOEM said it will continue to convene the Central Atlantic Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force to enhance cooperation and explore and identify potential additional areas for future offshore wind leasing.

These intergovernmental efforts include the implementation of the December 2023 Commitment and the June 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that outline joint work between the Biden-Harris Administration and the State of Maryland to assess additional areas off the coast of Maryland that could become wind energy.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department has approved the first eight commercial offshore wind projects in federal waters.

BOEM has completed four offshore wind lease transactions, including in New York, New Jersey and the Carolinas, as well as its first-ever offshore sale on the Pacific and Gulf Coasts. The department recently announced a schedule for as many as 12 additional lease sales through 2028.

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