USA: Developers Chosen by States Worried about Federal Offshore Wind Auction Plan

Offshore Wind Power USA conference, held on 26-27 February 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts, saw discussions regarding the impact of the Federal Government’s plan to auction offshore wind sites on proposed projects that have already been put in motion.

Developers, which have been chosen by some states to implement offshore wind projects, are concerned that the regulations from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on auctions of the offshore wind areas will lead to a competition between them and other developers that will apply, McClatchy Newspapers informed.

Areas off Rhode Island and New Jersey, for example, had already been assigned to developers that commenced the process to build offshore wind energy projects.

At the end of last year, BOEM announced that it will conduct auctions for two wind energy areas. One area is located off Virginia and the other area of mutual interest is off Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which will be auctioned in the form of two leases.

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Offshore WIND Staff, March 4, 2013; Image: SeaRoc