Yesterday the White House played host to a Summit
on Offshore Wind, a gathering of leading federal, state and industry stakeholders
committed to the long-term and sustainable development of offshore wind
in the United States. By 2030, offshore wind is projected to supply 22,000
megawatts of clean and abundant energy to cities and communities in America
enough to power 4.5 million homes.
In addition, the White House is announcing the following actions in support
of the development of offshore wind:
Establishing a White House
Interagency Working Group on Offshore Wind: Offshore wind will play
an integral role in our future energy portfolio. It is therefore critical
that the federal government work with states and other key stakeholders
to ensure the responsible development of this technology. The Interagency
Working Group will ensure effective coordination among federal agencies
working on offshore wind.
Facilitating State Collaboration in the
Northeast. The Department of Energy (DOE) is funding a multi-state
project with New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which will
produce a regional roadmap for offshore wind. The roadmap will lay out
a cooperative path to develop offshore wind at the large-scale level of
deployment needed to achieve economies of scale and establish a regional
supply chain with high-quality local jobs.
Establishing an International Offshore
Wind Regulators Forum.DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
has begun discussions with offshore wind regulators in the United Kingdom,
Denmark and Germany regarding the establishment of an International Offshore
Wind Regulators Forum. BOEM aims to establish a multilateral group to discuss
ways to responsibly expand offshore wind in the U.S. and around the globe.
The group will focus on sharing lessons learned, discussing regulatory
approaches and best practices, and exchanging scientific and environmental
information.
BOEM Lease Auctions in North
Carolina and New Jersey. BOEM recently announced the following two
significant actions with respect to its renewable energy leasing program.
North Carolina.
On September 17, 2015, BOEM announced it had completed an important environmental
review of three Wind Energy Areas, which total approximately 307,590 acres,
offshore North Carolina.
New Jersey. On September 25, 2015, BOEM published a Final Sale Notice
announcing that it will offer approximately 344,000 acres offshore New
Jersey for commercial wind energy leasing.
These actions build upon BOEM’s recent activities to oversee responsible
development of offshore renewable energy resources. BOEM has awarded nine
commercial wind leases, including seven through its competitive lease sale
process (two offshore Rhode Island-Massachusetts, two offshore Massachusetts,
two offshore Maryland and one offshore Virginia). To date, competitive
lease sales have generated more than $14.5 million in winning bids for
over 700,000 acres in federal waters.
Updating the National Offshore Wind Strategy: In 2011, DOE and DOI
jointly released a National Offshore Wind Strategy for the purpose of identifying
opportunities to reduce the cost and deployment timelines of offshore wind
projects. Given the market and technological changes since then, DOE and
DOI are working together to deliver an updated offshore wind strategy in
2016. Informed by extensive stakeholder input and building on DOE’s Wind
Vision Report, the updated strategy will address changes in technology,
resource potential and electricity demand. The updated strategy will also
outline potential initiatives to be implemented over the next five years
that will help support the expansion of the offshore wind industry in the
United States.