This week, the Department of the Interior announced a proposed offshore wind lease sale in the central Atlantic that includes an area off the Delaware coast.
“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will continue to work closely with our government partners and key stakeholders as we move forward with the leasing process in the Central Atlantic,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “We are excited to announce this proposed sale and underscore our commitment to explore additional areas in the central Atlantic for potential offshore wind development.”
The Department has held four offshore wind lease auctions during the Biden-Harris administration, bringing in almost $5.5 billion in high bids.
The proposed lease sale includes one area offshore the States of Delaware and Maryland and one area offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lease Area A-2 comprises 101,443 acres and is approximately 26.4 nautical miles from Delaware Bay. Lease Area C-1 consists of 176,505 acres and is approximately 35 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
The area off Delaware Bay would, in all likelihood, not be visible from the coast. Ørsted’s Skipjack and the U.S. Wind projects off the Maryland and Delaware coasts have generated opposition from groups and individuals whose concerns range from aquatic life to utility costs and the wind generation towers hurting tourism and ocean views.
BOEM is seeking public comments on which, if any, of the two lease areas should be offered in a lease sale next year. The areas can potentially power over 2.2 million homes or nearly five times the number of dwellings in Delaware.
In July 2023, BOEM announced three Central Atlantic Wind Energy Areas (WEAs), while indicating that WEA B-1 still needed more study. The proposed sale notice does not include WEA B-1, which is about 23.5 nautical miles off Ocean City, MD. BOEM has removed that area from this proposed lease sale due to costs and issues that included objections from the Department of Defense. Wind towers in the area might affect radar surveillance and other activities.
The Proposed Sale Notice initiates a 60-day public comment period and contains information about the areas available for leasing, certain lease conditions, auction details, criteria for evaluating competing bids, and procedures for lease award, appeals, and lease execution.
BOEM is seeking feedback on several lease stipulations. Some of these potential stipulations include:
- Providing bidding credits to bidders that commit to supporting workforce training programs for the offshore wind industry, developing a domestic supply chain for the offshore wind industry or a combination of both.
- Providing bidding credits to bidders that establish and contribute to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund or contribute to an existing fund to mitigate potential negative impacts from offshore wind development in the central Atlantic to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries. T
There have been concerns that union-only provisions will drive up costs. The Biden-Harris Administration has pushed for union workers as a way to ensure good-paying blue-collar jobs.
In addition to today’s announcement, BOEM is preparing a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts from leasing. More information on the Central Atlantic PSN can be found at BOEM’s website.
