The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced that a final sale of the Department of the Interior’s first-ever offshore wind lease sites on America’s West Coast will be on 6 December, 2022.
“This historic announcement marks a significant milestone for offshore wind in this country and on the west coast. This shows what can happen when we tap into the abundant renewable energy resources we have across the U.S., including along our coastlines,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton.
The wind energy lease areas are in two regions on the Outer Continental Shelf off the California coastline, covering 373,000 acres. The leases in the Morro Bay and Humboldt wind energy areas will generate at least 4.5 GW of reliable, carbon-free power, said BOEM.
“[This] sends a powerful signal that the federal agency is moving forward with speed and scale to support California in reaching its ambitious planning goals to deploy up to 5 GW of floating offshore wind power by 2030 and a nation-leading 25 GW by 2045,” said Offshore Wind California executive director Adam Stern.
