Principle Power has already proposed installing a 30MW project situated in waters 366 metres deep, 16-24 kilometres from Coos Bay, Oregon. It involves five semi-submersible 6MW floating turbines, as part of the WindFloat platform.
BOEM wants to see if there are any other organisations interested in developing wind projects in the same 38 square kilometre area to establish if it issues a non-competitive lease or whether there will be a competitive process.
The bureau’s requests for interest, including the public’s views on the proposal, opened today and will be available for input for the next 30 days.
Tommy Beaudreau, BOEM’s director, said: "We will work closely with the state of Oregon and stakeholders to share information and resolve issues in order to make responsible wind energy development in federal waters a reality."
The offshore energy department has issued four lease approvals on the Atlantic Coast: two non-competitive – Cape Wind in Natuckett Sound and off Delaware and two competitive Massachusetts-Rhode Island and Virginia.
Competitive auctions for wind energy off Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts will be held over the next year.
