The first-ever auction of federal offshore wind energy project sites in the Gulf of Mexico, held online, drew just one winning bid on Aug. 29—with German developer RWE securing a 102,480-acre site off Lake Charles, La., for $5.6 million.
Two larger areas off Galveston, Texas totaling about 200,000 acres, did not attract interest from the estimated 15 bidders that the U.S. Interior Dept. said earlier had qualified, including a number with oil and gas operations in the Gulf and those that are developing offshore wind projects in other regions.