Federal Government Accepts Bids For Offshore Wind Sites Off MA Coast

October 31, 2024

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. government has chosen winning bids to develop wind power off New England in the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic coast.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a lease sale and selected nearly $22 million in winning bids Tuesday.

Two of the leases went to Avangrid Renewables, while the other two went to Invenergy NE Offshore Wind for areas off the coast of Massachusetts. The four areas combined are more than 625 square miles.

The leased areas have the potential to power more than 2.3 million homes, the Interior Department said in a statement.

Avangrid, the co-owner of Vineyard Wind, said in a statement that the leased areas will enable the company to progress floating wind technology. The next generation of offshore wind development is increasingly taking place in deep waters, the company said.

“Securing these lease areas provides a unique opportunity to advance our growing business at a significant value, and reinforces our unwavering commitment to helping the New England region meet its growing need for reliable, clean energy,” Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said in a statement.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, a major commercial fishing trade group that has pushed back against expanding offshore wind power, characterized the lease sale as “another dangerous step toward the industrialization of one of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems.”

The association said no part of the Gulf of Maine is appropriate for offshore wind. But Conservation Law Foundation and other environmental and renewable energy groups said expanded wind power off New England is critical in the era of climate change.

“The Gulf of Maine lease sale is a pivotal step in our clean energy transition and for the region to significantly reduce climate-damaging emissions,” said Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president for law and policy at Conservation Law Foundation.

By PATRICK WHITTLE and JENNIFER McDERMOTT, The Associated Press