Posted on September 4, 2024
The United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued Tuesday a final sale notice for two wind energy areas (WEAs) off the coast of Oregon covering a combined 194,995 acres and offering a potential 3.1 gigawatts of power.
The auction, scheduled for October 15, will be the first-ever wind lease sale offshore Oregon, according to the Interior Department. The leases on offer are the Brookings WEA, which spans 133,792 acres about 18 miles from shore, and the Coos Bay area, which consists of 61,203 acres approximately 32 miles from shore.
The combined area has been reduced from the initial designations of 133,808 acres and 61,204 acres respectively. These figures already represented a 98 percent decrease from the area recommendations, narrowed to protect key commercial fishing grounds, according to a BOEM statement February 13.
There are five qualified bidders listed in the final sale notice published on the Federal Register’s online portal: Avangrid Renewables LLC, BlueFloat Energy Oregon LLC, OW North America Ventures LLC, US Mainstream Renewable Power Inc. and South Coast Energy Waters I LLC.
“Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Interior Department has worked diligently to support the undeniable enthusiasm for a clean energy transition that will help address the climate crisis and create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs in every corner of America”, Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement issued by the Interior Department. “The advancement of the first offshore wind sale in Oregon marks years of engagement with state partners, Tribes, ocean users and industry, and the Administration’s commitment to building a thriving and sustainable clean energy industry”.
The department said, “BOEM will offer bidding credits for bidders who enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development; require winning bidders to make efforts to enter into project labor agreements; and require engagement with Tribes, underserved communities, ocean users, and others”.
The Biden administration has so far completed five offshore wind lease sales, including for areas in New Jersey, New York, the Carolinas and the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts.
On April 24 Haaland announced a new five-year offshore wind leasing plan for the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific and U.S. territories. Four awards are planned for 2024, one each for 2025 and 2026, two for 2027 and four for 2028.
In the latest area awards Equinor ASA and Dominion Energy Inc. won two leases spanning a combined 277,948 acres offshore Delaware, Maryland and Virginia under the first Central Atlantic leasing.
The 101,443-acre Lease OCS-A 0557, about 26 nautical miles from Delaware Bay, went to Equinor subsidiary Equinor Wind US LLC, which won with a $75 million bid. Dominion’s Virginia Electric and Power Co. won the 176,505-acre Lease OCS-A 0558, around 35 nautical miles from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, after offering $17.7 million, according to a BOEM statement August 15.
The U.S. aims to reach 30 GW of offshore wind deployment by 2030, toward at least 110 GW by 2050, as announced by the Energy Department March 29, 2021.
