BOEM to kick off auction for Central Atlantic offshore wind sites

Offshore wind. Source: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is preparing to commence an auction today for two offshore wind lease areas with a potential installation capacity of up to 6.3 GW off the Central Atlantic.

The auction date was announced at the end of June. The sale includes one area offshore the states of Delaware and Maryland, and one area offshore Virginia, covering 101,443 acres (41,053 ha) and 176,505 acres, respectively.

According to the Final Sale Notice, there are 17 eligible bidders for the auction -- Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, Avangrid Renewables, BP Central Atlantic Offshore Wind, Corio USA Projectco, energyRE Offshore Wind Holdings, Equinor Wind US, Invenergy Central Atlantic Offshore, OW North America Ventures, Reventus Power Central Atlantic, RWE Offshore US CATL, Seaglass Offshore Wind II, Shell New Energies US, TotalEnergies Renewables USA, US Mainstream Renewable Power, US Wind, Vineyard Central Atlantic and Virginia Electric and Power Company.

The auction starts at 0900 Eastern Time (ET). Round-by-round results can be followed on BOEM's website.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the US has conducted four offshore wind lease auctions, including a record-setting sale offshore New York and initial auctions offshore the Pacific Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.