Wind Energy – U.S.A.
The U.S. Department of Interior today green-lit a lease sale in the New York Bight, the first offshore wind lease sale in over three years and the first under the Biden Administration.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued its final sale notice for the roughly 480,000-acre area off the New York and New Jersey coast for six lease areas, paving the way for an auction next month.
The New York Bight is expected to produce up to seven gigawatts of renewable energy – enough to power millions homes – and moves the nation toward the Biden Administration’s goal of 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, as well as help New York and New Jersey achieve their own offshore wind goals.
The announcement comes just days after the Governor of New York announced $500 million for offshore wind development and said the state would begin looking beyond its 9 GW goal.
Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the Network, said: “The long-anticipated leasing of the New York Bight creates a globally attractive market and is a giant step towards realizing the Biden Administration goal of developing 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. These six new lease areas will draw in new investors and developers to the U.S. market and foster the competition that will catalyze major supply chain development regionally and nationally. Sustaining this momentum is critical to the federal government to support the new but quickly growing U.S. offshore wind manufacturing base and supply chain. With its potential to supply large-scale and dependable clean energy, the responsible development of offshore wind is still our best strategy to quickly decarbonizing our economy and mitigating the effects of climate change.”