US tables prelim sale notice for 7 GW of offshore wind in New York Bight

The US government on Friday laid out plans for an offshore wind lease sale for over 7 GW of wind turbine capacity in the New York Bight, off the states of New York and New Jersey.

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a proposed sale notice (PSN) for eight lease areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that could be tendered for commercial development. The specific areas are located in shallow waters between the Long Island and the New Jersey coast and offer a total acreage of 627,331 (253,872 ha).

The PSN opens a 60-day public comment period through August 13. A final sale notice may be published after the review of all comments.

According to the preliminary regulations, bidders will be able to bid for one of the offered lease areas in each round of the two-stage competitive process.

Parties that previously took part in a call or submission of qualification materials for the proposed sale will not need to reaffirm their interest. Among these are Avangrid Renewables, Equinor Wind US LLC, RWE Offshore Wind Holdings and US Wind Inc.

The proposed sites, if fully developed, will create a hub for offshore wind power generators capable of producing electricity for more than 2.6 million homes. The areas were selected following a call for nominations held in 2018 and an area identification process that ran through end-March 2021.

The US has so far held eight offshore wind sales that ended up in issuing 17 commercial offshore wind leases off the Atlantic coast. The country’s goal is to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind turbine capacity by 2030.

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