The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has identified two draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the coast of Oregon and opened a 60-day public review and comment period on those sites.
The draft WEAs cover approximately 219,568 acres off southern Oregon with their closest points ranging from approximately 18 miles to 32 miles off the coast.
A map of the draft WEAs can be found on Oregon state activities page.
The move forms part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15GW of floating offshore wind by 2035.
BOEM director Elizabeth Klein said: “As BOEM works to identify potential areas for offshore wind development, we continue to prioritise a robust and transparent process, including ongoing engagement with tribal governments, agency partners, the fishing community, and other ocean users,
“At the request of Oregon’s governor and other state officials, there will be a 60-day public comment period on the draft WEAs and BOEM will hold an intergovernmental task force meeting in addition to public meetings during the comment period.
“We look forward to working with the state to help us finalise offshore areas that have strong resource potential and the fewest environmental and user conflicts.”
Oregon has major opportunities for offshore wind deployment, which will create good-paying jobs and new economic activity, BOEM said.
Due to the deep waters off Oregon’s coast, these areas are also an opportunity to accelerate US leadership in floating technologies, it added.
The draft WEAs announced would tap up to 2.6GW of Oregon’s potential.
To identify the zones, BOEM used a comprehensive process that involved outreach to potentially impacted stakeholders and ocean users, tribes, and the public to identify the potential offshore locations that appear most suitable for floating offshore wind energy development and took into consideration possible impacts to local coastal and marine resources and ocean users.
BOEM collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to use an ocean planning model that seeks to identify and minimize conflicts.
The Business Network for Offshore Wind welcomed the plans.
Founder and chief executive of the group Liz Burdock said: “We welcome the release of new draft wind energy areas off Oregon’s coast and applaud BOEM for maintaining its leasing schedule, which will build the industry’s momentum by going through timely auction processes.
“The US has an opportunity to emerge as a global leader in floating offshore wind; the development of a regionwide, not state specific, supply chain is critical to building the expertise and manufacturing base capable of supporting the industry.
“The introduction of these new WEAs will benefit not just Oregon, but California and Washington by attracting new investments in ports, vessels, and supply chain companies and delivering reliable power to the western grid.
“We look forward to the results of this auction and the proliferation of offshore wind energy on the West Coast.”
The two draft WEAs reflect changes based on public, stakeholder, and interagency engagement from the Oregon Call Area that the Department of the Interior released for public comment in April 2022.
Public input from this new comment period will be considered before formally designating final WEAs off the coast of Oregon.