Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau have announced competitive lease sales for renewable energy development in two wind energy areas (WEAs) in federal waters.
These lease sales cover two WEAs along the Atlantic coast. The area of mutual interest proposed for leasing offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts covers approximately 164,750 acres and is located about 9.2 nautical miles south of the Rhode Island coastline. The area will be auctioned as two leases, referred to as the North Zone and South Zone. The North Zone lease will consist of about 97,500 acres and has the capacity to support more than 1,000MW of wind generation. The South Zone lease will consist of about 67,250 acres and is capable of supporting a project of between 350 – 1,000MW. The proposed lease area offshore Virginia will be auctioned as a single lease and totals about 112,800 acres about 23.5 nautical miles offshore southern Virginia. It is expected to support more than 2,000MW of wind generation. The lease sales, which will be held next year, will be the first-ever competitive sales on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for wind energy.
These lease sales cover two WEAs along the Atlantic coast. The area of mutual interest proposed for leasing offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts covers approximately 164,750 acres and is located about 9.2 nautical miles south of the Rhode Island coastline. The area will be auctioned as two leases, referred to as the North Zone and South Zone. The North Zone lease will consist of about 97,500 acres and has the capacity to support more than 1,000MW of wind generation. The South Zone lease will consist of about 67,250 acres and is capable of supporting a project of between 350 – 1,000MW. The proposed lease area offshore Virginia will be auctioned as a single lease and totals about 112,800 acres about 23.5 nautical miles offshore southern Virginia. It is expected to support more than 2,000MW of wind generation. The lease sales, which will be held next year, will be the first-ever competitive sales on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for wind energy.
