Plans to develop offshore wind projects off Oregon and the central Atlantic coasts are moving forward.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said it plans to issue two Calls for Information and Nominations on April 29, a move seen as crucial in developing projects in the federal waters.
BOEM Director Amanda Lefton made the announcement at the International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum. The Biden administration has set a goal of developing 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
"Today’s announcement reflects years of working with ocean users, Tribal governments, and local, state, and federal agencies as we drive toward achieving the ambitious goals of the Biden-Harris administration to fight climate change and create good paying jobs.”
Each call will initiate a separate comment period for the public to weigh in on the potential development of the offshore wind areas. Developers can nominate specific areas for leasing.
BOEM has already conducted engagement activities with stakeholder organizations, ocean users, federal agencies, states, Tribal governments, and other parties ahead of the Call for Information and Nominations.
BOEM is seeking information on six areas representing nearly 4 million acres off the central Atlantic coast, from southern Delaware to mid-North Carolina.
The Oregon call, meanwhile, requests information regarding two areas for a combined 1.2 million acres. The Coos Bay Call Area and Brookings Call Area are off the coast of central and southern Oregon, respectively.
Offshore wind development is progressing all over the U.S.
In March, BOEM announced that it would hold its next offshore wind lease auction on May 11 for the rights to develop two areas offshore the Carolinas. The auctions are timed to occur before a moratorium on offshore wind leases signed by former President Donald Trump is to take effect July 1. The 10-year moratorium would ban offshore wind leasing in the area stretching from North Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico, ending at the Florida Keys.
BOEM issued the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for the Wilmington East Wind Energy Area on March 25. Qualified offshore wind developers can bid on the rights to develop one or both of the lease areas.
BOEM announced 16 companies that are pre-approved to bid on the Carolina Long Bay offshore wind leases.
The companies are 547 Energy, Arevia Power, Avangrid Renewables, bp, Invenergy, Carolina Offshore Wind, Duke Energy, EDF Renewables, JERA Renewables, Masdar Offshore Wind, MRP Offshore Wind Farm, Ørsted, Ocean Winds, RWE, Shell, and TotalEnergies.
Offshore wind lease auctions for the rights to develop areas off the coast of Central and Northern California, meanwhile, are planned for this fall.
In early April, BOEM released a draft environmental assessment for the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area in Central California. The draft environmental assessment for the Humboldt WEA in Northern California was released in January.
Necy Sumait, a regional supervisor in BOEM's Office of Strategic Resources, said the process remains on track, benefited by lessons learned from the East Coast fixed-bottom offshore wind market.
Sumait appeared alongside industry leaders from Aker Offshore Wind, Principle Power, and Offshore Wind California for the RENEWABLE+ Series in April on the potential of floating offshore wind. You can watch on-demand for free by registering here.
"From a process perspective, I think the BOEM requirements in terms of a Construction and Operations Plan should be fairly clear now to developers," Sumait said while acknowledging that the pressure is on for the agency to execute a successful lease auction following years of preparation and stakeholder engagement.
"That's what keeps us up at night," she said.
The 240,898 acres within the Morro Bay WEA are some 20 miles off San Luis Obispo County, California. The area is expected to bring 3 GW of clean energy to the grid when fully developed.
The Humboldt WEA will host three commercial leases totaling 132,368 acres located 21 miles offshore of the city of Eureka. The Humboldt WEA is expected to support the development of at least 1.6 GW of offshore wind.
The respective depths of 900-1,300m and 500-1,100m for the Morro Bay and Humboldt WEAs require floating offshore wind technology.
Interest in the California offshore wind leases is expected to be high.
Ørsted, Shell, Ocean Winds (EDP Renewables/ENGIE), Equinor, bp, RWE Renewables, Castle Wind (TotalEnergies/Trident Winds), Arevia Power, JERA Renewables NA, Marubeni Power International, and Aker Offshore Wind are among the companies that responded to BOEM's Call for Information and Nominations for the Morro Bay WEA.
Auctions for the rights to develop the U.S. Pacific Coast with floating offshore wind stands to be "extremely competitive," according to Aker Offshore Wind's senior vice president of U.S. operations, Jonah Margulis.
"All the indications are that it's going to be extremely competitive. Not just in California, if you look globally in floating (offshore wind) there is a tremendous acceleration of the projects, of the scale of the projects. We're now talking about large commercial-scale floating projects. A few years ago that was maybe a pipe dream and now that's reality."
