US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has announced that BOEM will hold an offshore wind energy auction on 23 February 2022 for more than 480,000 acres in the New York Bight.
This will be the first offshore wind energy auction under the Biden-Harris Administration.
The auction will allow offshore wind developers to bid on six lease areas – the most areas ever offered in a single auction – as described in BOEM’s Final Sale Notice.
Leases offered in this sale could result in 5.6 to 7GW of offshore wind energy, enough to power nearly 2 million homes.
Secretary Haaland was joined by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and New York Governor Kathy Hochul to outline their shared vision for developing a robust offshore wind domestic supply chain that will deliver benefits to residents of New York and New Jersey and the surrounding region, including underserved communities.
The terms of the leases will include incentives to use domestic supply chains, something both the New York and New Jersey governors welcomed.
New York’s Kathy Hochul said they will help to make New York the “epicentre of offshore wind manufacturing”, while New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy called it a “real turning of the page” from European dominance.
The leases will also stipulate union-led work and require bidders to mitigate impacts on tribes, underserved communities and the fishing community.
As offshore wind technology continues to advance, these areas may have the potential to produce even more clean energy.
This collaboration will serve as a model for future engagement and establish the US as a major player in the global offshore wind market, BOEM said.
Business Network for Offshore Wind president and chief executive Liz Burdock said: “The long-anticipated leasing of the New York Bight creates a globally attractive market and is a giant step towards realizing the Biden Administration goal of developing 30GW of offshore wind by 2030.
“These six new lease areas will draw in new investors and developers to the US market and foster the competition that will catalyse major supply chain development regionally and nationally.
“Sustaining this momentum is critical to the federal government to support the new but quickly growing US offshore wind manufacturing base and supply chain.
“With its potential to supply large-scale and dependable clean energy, the responsible development of offshore wind is still our best strategy to quickly decarbonizing our economy and mitigating the effects of climate change.”
Trasmission firm Anbaric Development Partners commended the Biden Administration for its commitment to accelerating the growth of the offshore wind industry along the Atlantic Coast.
Anbaric president for the Mid-Atlantic region Janice Fuller said: “By allowing for the sale of more than 480,000 acres in the New York Bight, the United States is taking a historic and critical action toward achieving the goal of 30GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.
“Harnessing the power of offshore wind energy is integral to revitalizing regional economies, and it will guarantee that states along the Atlantic Coast will achieve their clean energy goals.
“Increasing American offshore wind capacity to utility scale, as today’s announcement will do, heightens the need for planned transmission infrastructure, a critical component to efficiently deliver an abundance of offshore wind power to shore in a cost-effective way that minimizes environmental impact.
“With a limited number of locations that are well-suited to connect offshore generation to the grid, the need for planned offshore wind transmission infrastructure has never been greater.
“New Jersey and New York have been early leaders in the development of US offshore wind, and we look forward to continuing our work with them and the Biden Administration to build transmission systems that can reliably deliver offshore wind energy to American homes and businesses.”