US govt to hold Oregon's first offshore wind lease sale in mid-Oct

The US Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is getting ready to hold a lease sale in mid-October for two areas off southern Oregon that could generate more than 3.1 GW if fully developed.

The auction, scheduled for October 15, 2024, is outlined in a Final Sale Notice (FSN) that is to be published in the Federal Register on September 3. It includes two areas off the Oregon coast – the 61,203-acre (24,768 ha) Lease Area P-OCS 0566 (Coos Bay) and the 133,792-acre Lease Area P-OCS 0567 (Brookings).

“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,” Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

The BOEM noted it will continue to work through its Oregon Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force to coordinate on potential leasing and support ongoing stakeholder engagement processes on broader offshore wind considerations, including a state-led development of a strategic roadmap on offshore wind.

To date, the Biden-Harris administration has approved the country’s first nine commercial-scale offshore wind projects, held five offshore wind lease sales, and advanced the process to create additional Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Maine. Thus far, the DOI has greenlit more than 13 GW of offshore wind power.

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