Last November the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) announced that over 742,000 acres of offshore Massachusetts land would be auctioned for commercial wind development by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as part of the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan. The land was divided into four leasable tracts of varying sizes, and twelve companies qualified to bid.
That auction took place on January 29th,… More
On Monday, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the nation’s second offshore wind energy lease sale – this time for an area off the Virginia coast. The first competitive lease sale, for areas off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is scheduled for July 31. The auction for this new area, approximately 112,799 acres located 23.5 nautical miles from the Virginia Beach coastline,… More
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that the first auction of leases of offshore wind areas will be held on July 31. Even though it now looks as though Cape Wind will eventually get to the finish line, this competitive lease auction, for areas off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, can really be seen to mark the true beginning of an offshore wind market.… More