US to hold first offshore wind rights sale in Gulf of Mexico next month
investing.comWASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday said the first offshore wind power auction in the Gulf of Mexico will take place next month, an industry milestone President Joe Biden discussed during a trip to highlight the administration's efforts to boost clean energy.
In February, the United States proposed to expand offshore wind power developments into the Gulf of Mexico, introducing the nascent clean energy industry into a major hub for oil and gas production.
Biden has made the expansion of offshore wind a cornerstone of his agenda to fight fossil-fuel driven climate change.
The Interior Department said the sale will take place on Aug. 29.
«We're going to the Gulf,» Biden said in a speech in Philadelphia. You think I'm kidding? You ain't seen nothing yet."
According to a sale document, companies qualified to bid at the sale include units of European energy companies Equinor, Shell (LON:RDSa), RWE and TotalEnergies, all of which are already developing U.S. offshore wind leases. Equinor and Shell also have major oil and gas operations in the Gulf.
Newer entrants to the U.S. offshore wind industry include divisions of South Korea's Hanwha, U.S. renewable energy developer Hecate Energy, and Houston private equity firm Quantum (NASDAQ:QMCO) Capital.
The sale will include a lease area of 102,480 acres offshore Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two lease areas totaling nearly 200,000 acres offshore Galveston, Texas, the White House said. Companies will bid on the right to develop those acres.
The areas have the potential to generate about 3.7 Gigawatts and power, supplying nearly 1.3 million homes with clean energy, the Interior Department said.
The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), which represents both
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