The US Bureau of Ocean Power Administration (BOEM) yesterday raised almost $93m in an public sale for 2 lease areas for wind energy websites off the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
Outbidding a mixed subject of six corporations had been Equinor Wind US and Virginia Electrical and Energy Co, a subsidiary of Dominion Power.
They’re thought-about “provisional” winners as a result of they need to now submit development and improvement proposals to BOEM for his or her respective wind farm plans.
Between them, the 2 corporations secured 277,948 acres for a mixed $92.65m.
Equinor Wind efficiently bid $75m for a lease of 101,443 acres some 26 nautical miles from Delaware Bay (pictured). Equinor referred to as it “a long-term possibility with first energy put up 2035”.
Virginia Electrical and Energy efficiently bid $17.65m for a lease of 176,505 acres some 35 nautical miles from the doorway of Chesapeake Bay.
Ups and downs
Politico characterised the public sale as a “much-needed win” for the Biden administration, which desires 30 gigawatts of fastened offshore wind capability put in by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore capability by 2035.
To this point, the US has accredited 13 gigawatts-worth of offshore wind tasks.
Expectations had been raised in February 2022 by a record-breaking haul of $4.4bn in an public sale for six lease areas totalling over 488,000 acres within the New York Bight.
That was adopted in December that 12 months by an public sale for 5 lease areas totalling 373,268 acres off California, which netted $757.1m.
However poor ends in auctions within the Gulf of Mexico have forged doubts on the viability of the Biden administration’s aim.
Politico famous that final month BOEM canceled an public sale there owing to lack of curiosity, and an public sale in 2023 drew below $6m for a portion of the leases on supply.
Worries have included rising prices of constructing wind farms owing to world inflation, and the hostility to offshore wind of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Issues have additionally been raised by the sudden snapping off of a turbine blade on the under-construction Winery Wind 1 improvement off Martha’s Winery in Massachusetts on 13 July, which noticed development suspended for a month.
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Additional studying:
- Work begins on New York Metropolis’s first offshore wind terminal
- New York offshore wind may give hydrogen under $2/kg, say researchers
The put up $93m offshore wind public sale is ‘much-needed’ increase to Biden’s vitality objectives appeared first on World Building Overview.
