BOEM to Hold Wind Power Lease Sale for Area Offshore Virginia
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold its second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Virginia this September.
The auction announced by the Department of Interior (DOI) on Monday will take place on Sept. 4, offering nearly 112,800 acres offshore Virginia as a single lease. The area composed of 19 full OCS blocks and 13 sub-blocks is located 23.5 nautical miles from the Virginia Beach coastline and can support about 2,000 MW of nameplate wind capacity.
The DOI is readying for the nation’s first wind energy lease sale for an area offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts on July 31. The leases are part of the agency’s "Smart from the Start" program for expediting commercial-scale wind energy on the federal OCS.
BOEM will publish the Final Sale Notice in the Federal Register on July 23. The following companies are eligible to participate:
- Apex Virginia Offshore Wind, LLC
- Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion Virginia Power”)
- Energy Management, Inc.
- EDF Renewable Development, Inc.
- Fisherman’s Energy, LLC
- IBERDROLA RENEWABLES, Inc.
- Sea Breeze Energy, LLC
- Orisol Energy U.S., Inc.
"After careful review, BOEM has determined that these companies are legally, technically and financially qualified to participate in the upcoming lease sale,” said BOEM Director Tommy P. Beaudreau.
The sale is being conducted using an online bidding system and follows an ‘‘ascending clock’’ auction format. BOEM will set an initial asking price for the lease area and increase that price incrementally based on the number of active bidders in each round until no more than a single active bidder remains in the auction.
Sources: POWERnews, DOI
NOTE: This story was originally published on July 22