BOEM designates new Gulf of Mexico Wind Energy Areas

New Gulf of Mexico Wind Energy Areas [Image; BOEM]

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) reported Friday that it had finalized four new Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Gulf of Mexico. Announcement of the new WEAs follows the first-ever Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale in August this year.

That sale included three lease areas covering a total of over 300,000 acres: one area off the coast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two others off the coast of Galveston, Texas. It produced only one winning bid. RWE Offshore US Gulf, LLC was the winner of the Lake Charles Lease Area, off Louisiana, with a high bid of just $5.6 million, a fraction of the billion-dollar bids for East Coast offshore wind leases in the Atlantic Ocean. There were no bids at all for the two lease areas off Texas.

“Creating an offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Mexico will take time and partnership. BOEM is pursuing another offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico due to continued industry interest and feedback from our partners and key stakeholders,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “BOEM will continue to work with the tribes, other government partners, coastal states, ocean users, and local communities as we advance our work in a manner that seeks to responsibly develop offshore areas while minimizing potential conflicts with other ocean uses and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico.”

The four new Gulf of Mexico WEAs identified by BOEM are:

Option J: 495,567 acres located approximately 47.2 miles off the coast of Texas, with the potential to support projects that could power 2.1 million homes.

Option K: 119,635 acres located approximately 61.5 miles off the coast of Texas, with the potential to support projects that could power 508,200 homes.

Option L: 91,157 acres located approximately 52.9 miles off the coast of Texas, with the potential to support projects that could power 387,450 homes.

Option N: 56,978 acres located approximately 82 miles off the coast of Louisiana with the potential to support projects that could power approximately 242,000 homes.

Designation of the four new WEAs was welcomed by the Business Network for Offshore Wind/

“The network welcomes the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to building an offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Mexico, said its vice president for federal and state policy, John Begala. “With nearly a quarter of U.S. market contracts going to Gulf firms, the area is already the engine for U.S. offshore wind industry; building a robust pipeline of projects will further unlock the true potential of the region’s supply chain capacity. Gulf expertise in offshore construction is unparalleled, and innovative solutions developed there will continue to drive not just the U.S. but the global offshore wind industry forward.”

BOEM gave little indication of when a new Gulf of Mexico wind lease sale might be held. Any such sale could only be held if the agency stages a Congressionally mandated minimum number of oil and gas lease sales.

“Moving offshore wind lease opportunities forward across all of our coasts will drive investment and interest in this energy opportunity,” said National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito. “NOIA members play a pivotal role in advancing both offshore oil and gas projects, as well as offshore wind ventures, and can no doubt continue evolving the Gulf of Mexico into a broad-based and integrated energy hub.

“The success of offshore wind and offshore oil and gas goes hand in hand, he added, citing recent remarks by Senator Joe Manchin, noting that much of the uncertainty surrounding American offshore wind is linked to the limited number of offshore oil and gas lease sales within the new federal leasing program.

“To secure offshore wind’s success, we need more Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sales,” said Milito. “We urge Congress to act promptly, considering solutions like the BRIDGE Production Act, which cleared the House Natural Resources Committee [Friday] by a bipartisan vote.”