Biden Admin Holds First Ever GOM Offshore Wind Energy Auction

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced this week that it held the first ever offshore wind energy auction for the Gulf of Mexico region.

This lease sale offered two areas offshore Galveston, Texas - with one area comprising 102,480 acres and the other 96,786 acres - and a third, 102,480-acre area offshore Lake Charles, Louisiana, a statement posted on the DOI’s website highlighted.

RWE Offshore U.S. Gulf LLC was the winner of the Lake Charles Lease Area with a high bid of $5.6 million, the DOI outlined in its statement. The area has the potential to generate approximately 1.24 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity and power nearly 435,400 homes with renewable energy, according to the DOI statement, which noted that the two Galveston lease areas offered did not receive bids.

In its statement, the DOI pointed out that RWE Offshore U.S. Gulf earned bidding credits that will result in over $860,000 in investments for workforce training and a domestic supply chain, and more than $430,000 for fisheries compensatory mitigation.

According to the DOI’s statement, the GOM auction furthers President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and advances Biden’s commitment to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.

The DOI highlighted in its statement that it has approved the nation’s first four commercial scale offshore wind projects, held four offshore wind lease auctions, initiated environmental review of 10 offshore wind projects, and advanced the process to explore additional Wind Energy Areas in Oregon, Gulf of Maine, and Central Atlantic. The DOI noted that it has also taken steps to evolve its approach to offshore wind to drive towards union-built projects and a domestic supply chain.

“The Biden-Harris administration is making once in a generation investments in America’s infrastructure and our clean energy future as we take steps to bring offshore wind energy to additional areas around the country,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a DOI statement. 

“[This] lease sale represents an important milestone for the Gulf of Mexico region - and for our nation - to transition to a clean energy future,” said Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Elizabeth Klein.

“The Lake Charles Lease Area will have the potential to generate enough electricity to power about 435,400 homes and create hundreds of jobs,” Klein added.

In a statement sent to Rigzone following the conclusion of the GOM offshore wind lease sale, National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito said, “[this] lease sale is a key moment in the continued growth of the Gulf of Mexico as a comprehensive and integrated energy hub”.

“The Gulf is firmly established as a premier global offshore energy region, recognized for its low-carbon oil production, and … [this week] the region took a step to expand its energy portfolio,” he added. 

In the statement, Milito noted that NOIA members have played a pivotal role in advancing both offshore oil and gas projects, as well as offshore wind ventures.

“Throughout the Gulf Coast region, you will find steel fabricators, offshore service vessels, heavy lift vessel operators, subsea construction companies, helicopter service providers and more who have built their experience in the oil and gas industry but will be vital in building offshore wind,” he said.

“A generation of companies specializing in marine, oil, and gas services from Louisiana, Texas, and other Gulf Coastal areas have already begun applying their skills and experience to foster a new renewable American energy industry in offshore wind,” he added.

“They can expand their skills and expertise by participating in the construction and development of a wind project in their own backyard,” he continued.

“As the Gulf of Mexico continues its evolution into a broad-based and integrated energy hub, encompassing segments such as oil and gas, wind, and with future prospects of carbon sequestration and hydrogen, the opportunity for the first offshore wind project will be a marker for the region,” Milito went on to state.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com