Offshore

BOEM identifies areas off Central Atlantic coast for offshore wind development

BOEM identifies areas off Central Atlantic coast for offshore wind development
(Image by 3dmentat on 123rf)

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced three final Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, which could support 4-8 GW of production if fully developed, the Bureau said.

The three WEAs add up to about 356,550 acres, BOEM said. The first is 101,767 acres offshore Delaware Bay, the second is 78,285 acres offshore Ocean City, Maryland, and the third is 176,506 acres offshore Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.

BOEM said it will publish its Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental assessment of potential impacts from offshore wind leasing in the WEAs in the Federal Register on August 1, 2023, which will be followed by a 30-day public comment period. 

The U.S. Dept. of the Interior also recently announced it will hold the first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 29. BOEM will auction the lease areas, which could generate 3.7 GW and power almost 1.3 million homes, it said. The Final Sale Notice 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.

Offshore wind projects have experienced recent turbulence as developers and utilities have pulled out of projects, citing higher interest rates, increased expenses, and uncertainty around federal tax credits. Rhode Island Energy pulled out of its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the offshore wind farm Revolution Wind, The Iberdrola-owned Avangrid, the developer of the Commonwealth Wind offshore farm, requested to terminate the PPA signed with Eversource Energy, National Grid, and Unitil in 2022, and the utilities recently agreed to scrap the deal. Shell and Ocean Winds North America also decided to attempt to terminate the PPA for the SouthCoast Wind offshore wind project.

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