This was a big week for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. BOEM advanced two offshore wind leasing processes in the Gulf of Maine by announcing a Call for Information and Nominations for commercial development and a Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental assessment for the State of Maine’s proposed research lease.
And while these two BOEM actions are the focus of this piece, recent legislative activity in Maine should also be noted.… More
Today, January 12, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that on February 23, 2022 it will hold a wind energy lease auction for six areas in the New York Bight (NY Bight), the coastal area between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. BOEM’s issuance of the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for the wind energy lease areas comes just days after New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced in her State of the State address that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will issue its next offshore wind solicitation following BOEM’s lease sale in the NY Bight.… More
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