Under the establishment of a US energy policy, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced it is conducting a high-level assessment of all waters offshore the US Atlantic Coast for potential future offshore wind lease locations.
To help assess which geographic areas along the Atlantic are the most likely to have highest potential for successful offshore wind development, BOEM is considering multiple factors:
Factors that make an area more likely to be excluded:
- Areas prohibited by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act for leasing.
- Department of Defense conflict areas.
- Charted marine vessel traffic routes.
Factors that make an area more attractive for future leasing:
- Areas not previously removed.
- Areas greater than 10 nautical miles from shore.
- Areas shallower than 60 meters in depth.
- Areas adjacent to states with offshore wind economic incentives.
- Areas adjacent to states with an interest in identifying additional lease areas.
- Areas where industry has expressed interest.
Counselor for Energy Policy, Vincent DeVito, said:
The Administration continues to make great progress toward securing America’s energy future. The outlook for offshore wind is bright and today, we are taking the next step to ensure a domestic offshore wind industry.
As part of its commitment to renewable energy and offshore wind, BOEM has awarded to date 13 commercial offshore wind leases with wind energy leases off every state from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
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In support of the “America First Energy Plan,” BOEM published, earlier in 2018, draft guidelines for the use of a “Design Envelope” approach in Construction and Operations Plans (COPs) for offshore wind energy facilities in the US. This aims to afford developers a degree of flexibility and allow them to make certain project-design decisions.
