US to auction wind energy lease off Maryland in 2014

Dec 18, 2013 - The US government will at the start of next year hold an auction for two lease areas off the coast of Maryland, which can accommodate between 850 MW and 1,450 MW of wind power capacity.

The Department of Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday unveiled the proposed notice of sale for about 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) of land in federal waters near Ocean City for the development of commercial wind projects. The north lease area is of 32,737 acres, while the south one is larger covering 46,970 acres. If fully developed the areas can host wind farms that will produce enough electricity for nearly 300,000 households, the press release says.

The lease sale will be carried out as an online auction but first there is a 60-day period for public comment. The comment period will end on February 18, while the BOEM expects to issue a final sale notice in the first quarter of 2014. The online auction is to be held within 30 days of the final notice.

This will be the third US offshore wind lease sale. Early in June, the DOI said it would auction leases for wind parks in federal waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts with a potential for the development of nearly 3,400 MW of wind farms. The auction was won by US company Deepwater Wind LLC, which intends to develop a wind farm of up to 1,000 MW, estimated at USD 3.8 million (EUR 2.8m). In September US power supplier Dominion Virginia Power made a USD-1.6-million bid for a 2,000-MW wind park and won the second offshore wind energy lease sale in the US near Virginia’s coast.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.727)

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