On September 16, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published the Final Sale Notice for offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine with an auction date of October 29. The sale is part of President Biden’s goal to achieve 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. The 850,082-acre lease area is made up of eight areas off Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Two of the areas are located approximately 50 miles off the Maine coast in Lobster Management Area 3. The minimum bid price is $50 per acre.
Gulf of Maine Final Lease Areas
In 2023 BOEM identified a draft area for lease (Wind Energy Area or WEA) comprising 3.5 million acres in the Gulf. In response to public and agency comments, BOEM reduced the size of the area, publishing the final WEA of 2 million acres in March 2024. In April BOEM published the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) with eight proposed lease areas totaling 969,999 acres.
In response to comments on the PSN, BOEM removed from consideration several areas that featured a combination of offshore fishing activity, vessel transit, seafloor features identified by NMFS as potentially sensitive to impacts from offshore wind facility construction, and areas of relatively higher densities of North Atlantic right whale sightings and detections.
Fourteen companies have qualified as bidders.
According to BOEM, any lease awarded in October does not authorize the construction and operation of an offshore wind facility. A lease provides the right to submit project-specific plans. Those plans are subject to environmental, technical, and public reviews prior to a decision on whether the project proposal should be approved.
While the final area for leasing excludes Lobster Management Area 1, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association continues to oppose vast commercial wind farms in the Gulf of Maine. “The MLA remains steadfast in its position that no area of the Gulf of Maine should be industrialized with offshore wind. With 20,000 individuals employed aboard Maine’s fishing vessels or directly in the seafood supply chain, the productive and fragile waters of the Gulf of Maine should not be used as testing ground for new offshore wind technology or to site large industrial wind farms,” the MLA said in a statement.
Gulf of Maine Auction Qualified Bidders
Avangrid Renewables, LLC
Equinor Wind US LLC
US Mainstream Renewable Power Inc
Diamond Wind North America, LLC
Hexicon USA, LLC
Seaglass Offshore Wind II, LLC
TotalEnergies SBE US, LLC
Pine Tree Offshore Wind, LLC
energyRe Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC
OW Gulf of Maine LLC
Repsol Renewables North America, Inc
Maine Offshore Wind Development LLC
Corio USA Projectco LLC
Invenergy NE Offshore Wind LLC
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