First Oregon Offshore Wind Lease Sale Announced

The US Department of the Interior will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale off southern Oregon on October 15, 2024.

The auction will be conducted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and could generate more than 3.1 gigawatts of renewable energy if fully developed, enough to power approximately one million homes.

Lease Area P-OCS 0566 (Coos Bay) consists of 61,203 acres and is approximately 32 miles from shore. Lease Area P-OCS 0567 (Brookings) consists of 133,792 acres and is around 18 miles from shore.

The BOEM will offer bidding credits for bidders who enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development; require winning bidders to make efforts to enter into project labor agreements and require engagement with Tribes, underserved communities, ocean users and others.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department has approved the nation’s first nine commercial scale offshore wind projects, held five offshore wind lease sales, including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and advanced the process to establish additional Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Maine.

Earlier this year, the Department announced a schedule of additional lease sales through 2028. Thus far, the Department has approved more than 13 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects — enough to power nearly five million homes.