The US Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are offering 122,405 acres offshore Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in a commercial wind lease sale in March.
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Map of wind energy areas off North Carolina, from BOEM. |
The Kitty Hawk lease sale, to be held on 16 March, is the latest effort in the Obama Administration’s renewable energy program at the DOI, which recently marked the operational launch of the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, and the lease sale for over 79,000 acres offshore New York.
DOI and BOEM say this effort furthers President Obama’s comprehensive climate action plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy resources and cut carbon pollution.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates how our collaborative efforts with Federal, state and local partners over the past eight years have built a foundation to harness the enormous potential of offshore wind energy,” says DOI Secretary SallyJewell. “The lease sale underscores the growing market demand for renewable energy and strong industry interest in meeting that demand.”
The Kitty Hawk lease area begins about 24 nm from shore and extends 25.7 nm in a general southeast direction. Its seaward extent ranges from 13.5 nm in the north to .6 of a nm in the south.
“This is a significant milestone for North Carolina and our country as we continue to make progress on diversifying our nation’s energy portfolio,” says BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank. “BOEM looks forward to overseeing a successful lease sale in March, to contribute to the region’s energy supply and assist local governments in achieving their goals for energy independence and job creation.”
There have been a total of nine companies identified by BOEM deemed legally, technically and financially qualified to participate in the upcoming lease sale, which include: Avangrid Renewables; Enbridge Holdings (Green Energy); Shell WindEnergy; Northland Power America; Wind Future; Outer Banks Ocean Energy; PNE Wind USA; Statoil Wind US; and wpd offshore Alpha.
Under the terms of the Final Sale Notice, which will be published in the Federal Register on 19 January, the lease area will be auctioned as Lease OCS-A 0508.
To date, BOEM has held six competitive lease sales, which have generated more than US$58 million in high bids for more than one million acres in federal waters.
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