The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has held the nation’s third competitive lease sale for renewable energy in federal waters, which offered nearly 80,000 acres offshore Maryland for potential wind energy development.
The provisional winner of this lease sale is US Wind Inc. BOEM auctioned the Maryland Wind Energy Area as two leases, referred to as the North Lease Area (32,737 acres) and the South Lease Area (46,970 acres). US Wind Inc. submitted the provisionally winning bid for both lease areas. The wind energy lease sale resulted in a provisionally winning bid of US$ 8,701,098. The auction lasted 1 day, consisting of 19 rounds before determining the provisional winner. In addition to US Wind Inc., Green Sail Energy LLC and SCS Maryland Energy LLC participated in the auction. BOEM is expected to hold additional competitive auctions for Wind Energy Areas offshore Massachusetts and New Jersey in the coming year.
