Dominion Energy and Equinor were provisionally awarded leases for over 6 GW of new offshore wind capacity
For Immediate Release: August 14, 2024
Media Contact: Luke Jeanfreau | [email protected] | 504-302-8079
BALTIMORE — Oceantic Network congratulates the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for its successful offshore wind lease sale today in the Central Atlantic region. The agency received bids from 6 companies for the two areas, with leases provisionally awarded to Oceantic Network member companies Dominion Energy and Equinor.
The Central Atlantic Final Sale Notice (FSN) included one lease area offshore Delaware and Maryland, and another offshore Virginia. Dominion Energy was provisionally awarded the area offshore Virginia (176,505 acres) for just over $17.5 million, while Equinor was provisionally awarded the area offshore Delaware and Maryland (101,433 acres) for $75 million. In total, the area auctioned today covers more than 275,000 acres, enough to develop more than 6 GW of offshore wind energy capacity.
In June, BOEM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the State of Maryland to engage stakeholders in identifying acreage for additional offshore wind lease auctions in the Atlantic, a critical step to meeting Maryland’s and other Mid-Atlantic states’ offshore wind power generation targets. Governor Wes Moore signed an Executive Order that requires the Maryland Energy Administration to chart a path toward powering the state with 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Virginia is home to the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, set to be the nation’s largest, which this week installed its fiftieth monopile foundation. Today’s auction sets the stage for another project in the state, moving it closer to its 5.2 GW by 2035 goal. And in Delaware, lawmakers have passed a new 1.2 GW offshore wind target for the state that is awaiting the Governor’s signature.
The following statement can be attributed to Liz Burdock, founder and CEO of Oceantic Network:
“Today’s successful auction demonstrates that offshore wind will continue to play a leading role in the region’s energy future. The resulting leases will strengthen an emerging manufacturing hub in the mid-Atlantic, creating a dependable pipeline of contracts well into the next decade. Despite the general uncertainty around the upcoming presidential election, this is a vote of confidence for an American industry that has already received more than $2 billion of new supply chain investment in the first half of 2024.
“With strong bipartisan support in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, robust offshore wind energy targets, and projects just off the coast taking shape, offshore wind is creating local jobs, investment, and supply chain expansion that will deliver clean power to millions of area homes and businesses. We look forward to continuing work with BOEM and local leaders to identify further areas of development in the Central Atlantic.”
Additional Information:
- Biden-Harris Administration’s Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Lease Sale Yields Nearly $93 Million
- BOEM’s Central Atlantic Activities Page
For more information or to arrange an interview with the Network, contact Luke Jeanfreau at [email protected] or 504-302-8079.
###
As a non-profit organization, the Oceantic Network’s driving purpose is to inform, coordinate, and mobilize human ingenuity, enterprise, and labor to take advantage of the urgent need to tap the vast offshore wind and renewable energy resources that lie in the world’s oceans. The collective, coordinated efforts of our 600+ members equip communities and nations to accelerate the transition to clean energy and create economic opportunities.
