$92 Million in High Bids for U.S Offshore Wind Auction

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Following a tentative move forward on wind energy in the Pacific, the U.S. government is boasting of the success in the first offshore wind energy lease in a decade in the Atlantic.

The federal government is far behind its goal of establishing some 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by the end of the decade, with only three offshore wind farms in commercial service. A report on second-quarter wind energy activity in the U.S. market from Oceantic put the total offshore wind energy capacity at only 310 megawatts (MW), though that's 7.5 times more than at the end of last year.

There were no commercial wind farms approved at the beginning of the decade, but the federal government has since signed off on nine large-scale projects. Some 13 GW have been sanctioned since the start of the 2020s and that number could increase with more than $92 million in high bids for the auction in the Atlantic.

"With nine commercial-scale projects approved in the last three years and more to go, we are using every available tool to grow the American offshore wind industry as we strengthen the nation's power grid and tackle the climate crisis," said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.

The U.S. wind energy division of Norwegian energy company Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger, Norway) submitted the highest bid, offering $75 million for 101,443 acres offshore near Delaware Bay.

Equinor is already busy developing its Empire Wind facility off the coast of New York. The facility would have a nameplate capacity of 810 MW, with first power expected in late 2026.

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Virginia Electric and Power Company, a subsidiary of Dominion Energy Incorporated (NYSE:D) (Richmond, Virginia), secured the rights to develop a 176,500-acre site off Virginia with its $17.6 million bid. The site is next to the company's 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

Dominion's new lease area off the Virginia coast could support as much as 4 GW of wind energy, the federal government estimated.

"Offshore wind is critical to our all-of-the-above approach to meet the unprecedented growth of our customer electric demand over the next decade," said Robert Blue, the head of Dominion Energy.

While still far away from the 30 GW goal for offshore wind, the entire sector is gaining momentum. The government this week said it saw no environmental impacts from proposed wind energy development off the Oregon coast.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration in a monthly energy market report said total wind power generation in the country set a record in April, beating out coal.

"Wind installations in the United States produced 45.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity in March 2024, compared with 38.4 GWh from coal-fired power plants," the EIA said. "In April 2024, coal-fired generation fell to 37.2 GWh. Wind generation, meanwhile, increased to a record 47.7 GWh."

By next year, renewable energy should account for about 25% of what's on the grid.

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