DELMARVA - A proposal for an offshore wind lease sale off the coast of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia was announced Monday by the Department of the Interior. The sale includes one area off of Delaware and Maryland and one off of Virginia.
According to the department, the proposed sale includes over 101,000 acres approximately 26.4 nautical miles from the Delaware Bay. A second included area 35 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is about 176,500 acres. The department says these areas have the potential to power over 2.2 million homes with clean energy. An ecosystem-based ocean planning model is being developed through a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
"The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will continue to work closely with our government partners and key stakeholders as we move forward with the leasing process in the central Atlantic," said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. "We are excited to announce this proposed sale and underscore our commitment to explore additional areas in the central Atlantic for potential offshore wind development."
The Department of the Interior has held four offshore wind lease auctions during the Biden-Harris administration, including near New York and New Jersey and off the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Additional opportunities are being explored in the Gulf of Maine and offshore Oregon due to efforts from BOEM to advance the process.
In July, BOEM announced three central Atlantic wind energy areas including the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay options, though it indicated that a third 23.5 nautical miles off the coast of Ocean City still needed more study. The Ocean City area is not included in this proposed lease sale due to significant costs and required mitigation, according to BOEM, though it could be considered as part of a potential second lease sale as early as 2025.
"BOEM values a robust and transparent offshore wind planning process, which requires early and frequent engagement with tribal governments, the Department of Defense, NASA, other government agencies and ocean users," Klein said in July. "We will continue to work closely with them, and all interested stakeholders, as we move forward with our environmental review."
Monday's proposed sale notice will publish in the federal register on Tuesday along with information about the areas available for commercial leasing, criteria for evaluating competing bids and procedures for appeals.
The notice also begins a 60-day public comment period. BOEM is seeking comments on which, if either, of the two lease areas should be offered in a lease sale next year. It is also looking for feedback on several lease stipulations like providing bidding credits to bidders that commit to supporting workforce training. Another possible stipulation could include credits for those that contribute to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund or to an existing fund to mitigate potential negative impacts to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries that come from offshore wind development in the central Atlantic.