WASHINGTON - A lease sale for offshore wind energy in the Central Atlantic was announced Friday by the Department of the Interior. Specific areas off the coast of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia will be auctioned on Aug. 14 by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Seventeen companies qualified to participate in the August sale, according to the department.
"We are excited to announce this sale and underscore our commitment to explore additional areas in the Central Atlantic for potential offshore wind energy development," said Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Elizabeth Klein. "BOEM will continue to work with all ocean users to ensure offshore wind energy proceeds in an environmentally responsible manner."
DEVELOPMENT AREA LOCATIONS AND COSTS
The bureau partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to develop a planning model that assisted in the selection of the final lease areas.
Lease area A-2 consists of 101,443 acres, which is close to the size of the island of Barbados, approximately 26 nautical miles from the Delaware Bay.
According to the lease, rent payments for the land are $3 per acre per year. The lessee will be required to provide an initial lease-specific bond or similar means of meeting financial assurance requirements equal to $100,000. There will be an additional bond determined by the complexity of the project and estimates of the costs to meet all accrued obligations.
Lease Area A-2 consists of 101,443 acres and is approximately 26 nautical miles from the Delaware Bay. (BOEM)
Lease area C-1 is the larger of the two, comprised of 176,505 acres about 35 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The same rent rate and financial assurance requirements from lease area A-2 apply here, as well.
Lease Area C-1 consists of 176,505 acres and is approximately 35 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. (BOEM)
PUBLIC COMMENTS: ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND ECONOMY BOOST
When BOEM issued the proposed sale notice in December 2023, a comment period was opened through Feb. 12, 2024. BOEM's consultant, ICF, analyzed a total of 310 public comments and found 39 of them to be substantive.
About 10 expressed general support, according to the analysis, noting the grounds that the sale would help meet renewable energy goals and support workforce development. According to the Department of the Interior, several lease stipulations and bidding credits would help create good-paying jobs like a 12.5 percent bidding credit to bidders who commit to supporting workforce training programs and another 12.5 percent credit to those who contribute to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund.
Kendall Martin, president of the Ironworkers District Council of the Mid-Atlantic States, shared a similar sentiment in a statement Friday.
"As the Central Atlantic moves forward with an offshore wind lease, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are poised to see an influx of jobs in the offshore wind industry," she said. "It is critical that these jobs come with strong labor standards so that workers are well-paid, protected and trained to the highest standards."
Four commenters expressed general opposition, saying the proposed sale is a rogue move by BOEM and the government and calling it a "tax-guzzling," "non-green, ineffective, inefficient scam."
People and municipalities along the Delaware beaches and Ocean City opposed to the development of offshore have focused most on concerns surrounding impacted views and the environment. The Town of Ocean City released a statement in October titled "Save Our Sunrise" to urge residents and visitors to attend public meetings for proposed wind farms, saying the town was not opposed to wind energy but concerned about the views. Hundreds of people showed up.
One person took this idea to the public comment period, according to the ICF report, and described landmarks and other locations that could be impacted by changed views. In response, BOEM noted the bureau creates visual simulations from many points of view and varying times of day and night. It also requires lessees to submit construction and operations plans that include detailed visual impact assessments at the construction and operation phase for each lease.
"BOEM shares the commenter's concerns for National Historic Landmarks, national and state parks and the importance of dark nighttime skies and works diligently to balance all concerns and interests in the fulfillment of BOEM's mission to manage the development of U.S. Outer Continental Shelf energy, mineral and geological resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way,"Â BOEM responded.Â
One commenter in the ICF summary discussed the potential negative impact on commercial fisheries in the area due to possibilities of displacement of fishing efforts, gear loss or damage, reduction in fishery landings and navigation concerns. Another said BOEM should consider excluding a transit route used by commercial fishing vessels from the A-2 area near the Delaware Bay.
WHAT'S NEXT
The final sale notice should publish in the federal register on July 1 and include more detailed information about the areas available for leasing, certain lease provisions and conditions, auction details, criteria for evaluating bids and procedures for awarding and executing the lease. More information is available at boem.gov.