Tag Archives: floating offshore wind

Early this afternoon, Governor Janet Mills signed into law LD 1895, legislation directing the state to procure up to 3 GW of offshore wind by 2040. The final version of the procurement bill emerged after several weeks of negotiations between the Governor, legislature, industry, fisheries interests, labor groups, and environmental advocates. Now that the bill is signed into law, Maine is the seventh U.S. state to pursue a competitive solicitation of offshore wind energy.… More

Four New England States – Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island – recently submitted a concept paper to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposing to build up to three new high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines and related onshore system upgrades to support the injection of new offshore wind resources in New England.

Onshore and offshore transmission constraints are a major barrier to the successful deployment of large-scale offshore wind along the Atlantic coast.… More

The State of Maine recently published the final version of its Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap, sending a strong market signal that the state is increasingly ready for commercial-scale floating offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. The Roadmap, which I first wrote about in November, makes a series of recommendations to advance commercial scale-floating offshore wind in Maine, including that the state establish an offshore wind procurement target and strategy (“coordinated regionally to achieve cost effective deployment”) prior to BOEM’s lease sale in the Gulf of Maine,… More

Earlier today, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced provisional winners of its offshore wind energy lease sale for five areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off central and northern California. This auction represents the first offshore wind lease sale on the west coast and the first sale to support potential commercial scale floating offshore wind technology. Auction winners included some expected names and some new market entrants.

The 31-round auction,… More

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for the development of offshore renewable energy in federal waters. While the first Gulf of Maine offshore wind lease sale is not expected until 2024, this post explores recent actions BOEM has taken to advance offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine and the agency activity we’re likely to see in the year ahead.… More