The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an offshore wind lease sale later this summer that will further expand the new industry into the mid-Atlantic region.
Two lease areas will be offered in the Aug. 14 auction, enough to power roughly 2.2 million homes, the agency announced Friday.
“We are taking action to jumpstart America’s offshore wind energy industry and using American innovation to deliver reliable, affordable power to homes and businesses,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
The final sale includes a 176,505-acre lease located roughly 40 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The second lease is 101,443 acres and situated nearly 30 miles off the coast of the Delaware Bay. Seventeen companies have qualified to participate in the sale, including the French oil giant TotalEnergies, Vineyard Central Atlantic and a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, according to BOEM.
