Feds create four new offshore wind power zones in the Gulf of Mexico - The Advocate

BOEM creates four new offshore wind zones in Gulf of Mexico | Business | theadvocate.com

In effort to further boost U.S. renewable power, the Biden administration on Friday announced that four new zones have been selected in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore wind development.

If fully developed, the four zones — which total more than 763,000 acres — could power nearly 3.24 million homes, according to data from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees the nation’s offshore wind program. The zones are designated as Wind Energy Areas by BOEM.

That’s more than double than the roughly 300,000 acres that was offered in late August, when BOEM hosted its first ever wind lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico. The area of that auction had been slashed from the roughly 682,000 acres that were initially proposed for auction.

BOEM will have to produce a formal sale notice before the zones will go up for auction. The agency did not provide a timeline for that sale notice.

“Creating an offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Mexico will take time and partnership. BOEM is pursuing another offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico due to continued industry interest and feedback from our partners and key stakeholders,” BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein said in a statement.

The four zones are mostly close to Texas, according to federal maps. However, one of them is about 82 miles from the coast of southwest Louisiana.

Though interest in wind energy has grown in recent years, the August auction drew only a handful of bids. In the end, German energy firm RWE ponied up $5.6 million to develop roughly 102,000 acres about 44 miles from Lake Charles. Renewable energy advocates, however, still hailed the auction as a crucial leap forward for the Gulf’s growing wind sector.

“The announcement of these final WEAs illustrates BOEM’s receptivity to stakeholder feedback requesting more WEAs in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico,” Jenny Netherton, senior program manager for the Southeastern Wind Coalition, said in a statement. “SEWC also applauds BOEM for pursuing a programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Gulf of Mexico Call Area, which allowed for this announcement.”

New Gulf wind energy areas

- 495,567 acres; roughly 47.2 miles from Texas coast; could power 2.1 million homes
- 119,635 acres; roughly 61.5 miles from Texas coast; could power 508,200 homes
- 91,157 acres; roughly 52.9 miles from Texas coast; could power 387,450 homes
- 56,978 acres; roughly 82 miles from Louisiana coast; could power 242,000 homes

SOURCE: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management