The U.S. will decide in about a month whether to move forward to lease new federal ocean tracts off the central Atlantic coast to develop up to 8 GW of offshore wind energy, while setting Aug. 29 for the much-anticipated sale of the first large lease areas in the Gulf of Mexico. The intended expansion of U.S. offshore wind development areas comes as existing projects face new challenges over construction cost hikes.
A 30-day comment period opened Aug. 1 on the U.S. Interior Dept. proposal for lease sales of three central Atlantic areas between Virginia and southern New Jersey that total nearly 557 sq miles (see map, above). One roughly 101,767 acre-area, located 26 miles from the Delaware Bay separating Delaware and New Jersey, could hold at least 1.23 GW, says the agency. Another, about 78,285 acres and 23 miles off Ocean City, Md., has 951 MW of potential generation; with the third and largest at 176,506 acres located 40 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay off Virginia. It could generate nearly 2.14GW, Interior said.