| From: Eric | 8/12/2024 7:51:04 PM | | | | | | Plans unveiled for five gigawatt wind project, the biggest on Australia’s main grid
Kennedy Energy Park construction. Supplied
Giles Parkinson
Aug 13, 2024
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Plans have been unveiled for what would be – by some distance – the biggest wind project on Australia’s main grid, a five gigawatt (GW) proposal for north Queensland.
The Bogunda wind farm has been unveiled by Australian developer Renewable Energy Partners (REP) and would be located in a region south-east of Hughenden, and would connect to the proposed new Copperstring transmission line that will link the coastal areas with the mineral-rich regions out towards Mount Isa.
The project is very much in its early stages, but REP hopes to get a first 2 GW stage up and running by the end of the decade, at a cost of around $5 billion – although the timing will be dependent on progress with the Copperstring power line.
To put the size of the project in context, currently the biggest operating wind project in Australia is the 536 megawatt (MW) Stockyard Hill wind farm in Victoria, although two bigger projects – the 923 MW MacIntyre wind farm in Queensland and the 1.33 GW Golden Plains wind farm in Victoria – are currently under construction.
The push towards gigawatt scale projects is accelerating – particularly in the south-west of NSW, areas of Queensland, and in offshore wind zones.
But Bogunda – which means “is a word”big wind” in the local Yirandhali language – is the first project to be conceived at this scale for the main grid, although some bigger wind projects have been mooted “off-grid” to support big green hydrogen plans. Those projects, however, could be a decade away from development.
“Hughenden has a phenomenal wind resource, strong local support and benefits from the recent commencement of construction of the 500kV Copperstring transmission line by Powerlink,” REP chief executive officer Luke McDonald said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Hughenden region has long been targeted for wind projects. It already hosts the 59 MW Kennedy Energy Park, pictured above), the first project in the world to combine wind, solar and battery storage, and there have been plans for a gigawatt-scale “Big Kennedy” project that is also dependent on the Copperstring link.
Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola also has the gigawatt scale Mt James wind project in the same area that it is also seeking to develop.
“The industry has known of Hughenden’s wind resource for a long time,” said Ben Larsson, the head of origination with REP.
“With Copperstring’s original vision now an emerging reality, we are looking forward to working closely with our landowner partners to create an asset that utilises this incredible wind resource.”
REP says it intends to work with “key stakeholders” to ensure the Bogunda wind project has a strong social licence within the community.
The Brisbane-based company is Australian owned and has a portfolio of 10 gigawatts of wind, solar, battery and pumped hydro projects in development, including the 500 MW Wambo wind farm, the Ulinda Park battery (in conjunction with Akaysha Energy) and the Hopeland solar project (in conjunction with Pacific Partnerships).
Other projects include the 750 MW/16 hour Capricornia pumped hydro project that it is seeking to develop near Mackay in conjunction with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and the Queensland government owned, CS Energy, the 800 MW Proserpine wind farm, and the 500 MW Wandoan wind farm.
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| From: Eric | 8/12/2024 8:09:49 PM | | | | | | China’s Goldwind files EIS for massive wind and battery project featuring biggest turbines to date
The Stockyard Hill wind farm
Joshua S Hill
Aug 12, 2024
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The developers behind a proposed 1.4GW wind farm and 400MWh battery energy storage system planned for the south-west of New South Wales have taken an important next step in development, submitting an environmental impact statement to the state government.
Originally announced in the first half of 2022, the proposed Baldon Wind Farm would be built within the state’s South West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), which stretches from the Murray River north of Mildura east to Murrumbidgee.
Having undergone several modifications, the current plan is for the wind farm to consist of 180 turbines with a combined capacity of 1,404 MW paired with a 200 MW, 400 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).
It will feature 8 MW turbines – bigger than any installed in Australia to date, and the battery will include grid forming inverter technology.
Baldon is one of a number of gigawatt-scale wind projects that are jockeying for position on the limited grid in the south-west renewable energy zone, attracted by newly discovered wind speeds at height, the flat land and receptive landowners.
The Baldon Wind Farm and BESS is being developed by the privately owned Australian company Omni Energy and Goldwind Australia, the local subsidiary of Chinese wind turbine manufacturing giant Goldwind.
“We are pleased to have now completed comprehensive environmental, cultural heritage, economic and social impact studies,” said Medard Boutry, general manager for development at Goldwind Australia, who said the EIS will be formally lodged this Wednesday.
“It has been a pleasure meeting members of the local community through our engagement activities over the past couple of years and we are delighted with the strong community support received for the project.
“Baldon Wind Farm will utilise Goldwind’s industry-leading advanced technology 8MW wind turbines which have the latest grid-forming turbine technology integrated with battery energy storage systems.”
A submission to the federal government under the ECBA Act earlier this year notes that the turbines could be even bigger than 8 MW, depending on the final layout, and could reach a blade tip height of more than 300 metres.
There had been reports that the Baldon project would be put up for sale, at least the majority Omni stake, but it is not yet clear whether that sales process is continuing. Access rights to the local grid are also on offer, and will be key to the development of the increasing number of large projects in the area.
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| From: Eric | 8/12/2024 8:26:49 PM | | | | | | 
CVOW monopiles. Image courtesy of Dominion.
Dominion Energy Hits Milestone in Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Construction — Installation of 50th Monopile Foundation
22 mins ago
Press Release Tell Us What You're Thinking!
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! - Dominion Energy remains on target to install between 70–100 monopile foundations by end of October
- Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind remains on budget and on schedule to complete construction in late 2026
- More than 800 Virginia-based workers — nearly 670 in the?Hampton Roads?region — have been engaged on the CVOW project or with other businesses supporting CVOW.
- More than 1,000 local jobs will be needed to support ongoing operations and maintenance of this facility after the project begins commercial operation.
Richmond, Virginia — Dominion Energy announced today the 50th monopile foundation for the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) was installed 33 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, keeping the project on schedule to hit the company’s target of 70–100 monopiles set into the sea floor during the first of two installation seasons that run through the end of October.
CVOW, the largest offshore wind project under construction in the United States, will consist of 176 turbines that will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes and is expected to generate fuel savings of $3 billion for customers during the first 10 years of operation. Construction remains on schedule to be complete in late 2026.
“Our on-time, on-budget Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project proves that regulated offshore wind works in the United States,” said Robert M. Blue, Dominion Energy’s chair, president and chief executive officer. “Offshore wind is critical to our all-of-the-above approach to provide our customers with affordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy.”
The monopile foundations, which are being staged at Portsmouth Marine Terminal, are single vertical, steel cylinders manufactured by global leader EEW SPC and are being installed into the sea floor to support the wind turbine generators. Consistent with the project construction schedule, Dominion Energy will continue to install monopiles through the fall of 2024 and resume installations in May 2025.
Offshore wind’s economic development and jobs benefits are transformative for?Hampton Roads?and the Commonwealth. More than 800 Virginia-based workers — nearly 670 in the?Hampton Roads?region — have been engaged on the CVOW project or with other businesses supporting CVOW. More than 1,000 local jobs will be needed to support ongoing operations and maintenance of this facility after the project begins commercial operation.
About Dominion Energy: More than 4.5 million customers in 13 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to providing reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy every day and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.
Source: Dominion Energy
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| From: Ron | 8/18/2024 6:20:14 PM | | | | | | Wind developers bid $93M for mid-Atlantic — blowing off Trump 2.0 threat
The offshore wind industry has struggled, but Wednesday’s auction shows there’s still solid interest from the industry — even with Trump seeking the White House.
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| From: Eric | 8/23/2024 11:13:13 AM | | | | | | 
ChatGPT & DALL-E generated panoramic image of US federal lands restored to nature with a sprinkling of wind turbines
Report Highlights Advancements in Wind Technology & Supply Chains
4 hours ago
US Department of Energy 1 Comment
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Though 2023 was a relatively slow year for new wind power deployment in the United States, the industry continues to see growth, solid performance, expanding supply chains, and attractive prices, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
With power sales prices ranging from less than $20 to more than $40 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for newly built projects, the cost of wind is well below its grid-system, health, and climate value. “Wind energy prices — particularly in the central United States — remain attractive even as they have drifted higher in recent years,” said Ryan Wiser, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area. “Considering the health and climate benefits of wind energy makes the economics even better,” he added.
Key findings from the annual Land-Based Wind Market Report include:
• Wind comprises a significant share of electricity supply. U.S. wind power deployment was relatively low in 2023, totaling 6.5 gigawatts (GW) and representing $10.8 billion in investment. Yet wind energy contributed 10% of the nation’s electricity supply, and as much as 37% in the Southwest Power Pool. A total of 150 GW of wind was installed in the United States at the end of 2023. A record-high 366 GW of wind is seeking transmission interconnection.
• Wind turbines continue to get larger, expanding the market for wind energy. Improved plant performance over the last decades has been driven by larger turbines mounted on taller towers and featuring longer blades. In 2013, no turbines employed rotors that were 115 meters in diameter or larger, whereas 98% of newly installed turbines featured such rotors in 2023.
• Wind energy prices have risen but remain attractive for purchasers. Wind power purchase agreement prices have been drifting higher since about 2018, with a recent range from less than $20 per MWh to more than $40 per MWh depending on region and other details. These prices, which are possible in part due to federal tax support, are similar to recent solar sales prices and to the projected future fuel costs of gas-fired generation.
• Wind’s value proposition includes grid and societal benefits. The value of wind in wholesale power markets is affected by the location of wind plants, their hourly output profiles, and how those characteristics correlate with real-time electricity prices and capacity markets. The market value of wind declined in 2023, following a drop in the price of natural gas. Wind also reduces power-sector emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide. These reductions, in turn, provide public health and climate benefits that are larger than wind’s grid-system value. The combination of all three values ($183 per MWh) significantly exceeded the levelized cost of wind energy in 2023.
Location of wind turbine and component manufacturing facilities. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy, ACP) •
The Inflation Reduction Act has created renewed optimism for supply chain expansion. Domestic manufacturing of towers and nacelles was strong in 2023, while blade manufacturing has begun to rise after several years of decline. The Inflation Reduction Act contains, for the first time, production-based tax credits for domestic manufacturing of key wind components like nacelles, towers, and blades; it also extended the tax credit for wind deployment, inclusive of a 10% bonus for projects that meet domestic content requirements. Consequently, there have been at least 15 announcements of manufacturing facilities that plan to open, re-open, or expand to serve the land-based wind industry.
• Energy analysts project a resurgence of wind deployment in the years ahead. With a long-term extension of tax credits for wind energy along with opportunities for wind plants to earn two 10% bonus credits, analysts expect 2023 to be the low-point for wind deployment. Forecasts for wind deployment grow to an average over 15 GW per year from 2026 through 2028.
Berkeley Lab’s contributions to this report were funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office.
Additional Information:
The full Land-Based Wind Market Report: 2024 Edition, a presentation slide deck that summarizes the report, several interactive data visualizations, and an Excel workbook that contains the data presented in the report, can be downloaded from windreport.lbl.gov. Companion reports on offshore wind and distributed wind are also available from the Department of Energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s release on this study is available at energy.gov.
Courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
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| From: Eric | 8/25/2024 8:34:29 AM | | | | | | Second turbine blade failure hits world’s largest offshore wind farm, in fresh blow to GE Vernova
Image: Dogger Bank
Sophie Vorrath
Aug 23, 2024
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A wind turbine blade failure been reported at the site of what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the first phase of the massive 3.6GW Dogger Bank project in the North Sea off the coast of the UK.
The project’s developers said in a statement that they were “aware of a blade failure” that occurred on the morning of August 22 on an installed 13MW Haliade-X turbine at the Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm, which is currently under construction.
“In line with safety procedures, the surrounding marine area has been restricted and relevant authorities notified. No one was injured or in the vicinity at the time the damage was sustained,” the statement says.
“We are working closely with the turbine manufacturer, GE Vernova, which has initiated an investigation into the cause of the incident. Further updates will be issued in due course as more information becomes available.”
Dogger Bank is a 50:50 joint venture between Equinor and SSE Renewables comprising three 1.2GW offshore wind farms located about 130km from the Yorkshire Coast, on a large sandbank in the North Sea.
The incident marks the second blade failure for Dogger Bank A, after an incident at the beginning of May. For GE Vernova, it is the third incident in a matter of months involving of company’s Haliade-X turbines, including the failure and detachment of a blade at the 800MW Vineyard Wind project – the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm to be built in the United States.
The 13MW Haliade-X, at one point billed by GE as the most powerful in the world with full certifications, features a power rating covering 12-14.7MW, a 220-meter rotor and a 107-meter blade. “It has also received independent certification, making it a proven and bankable technology for customers seeking financing,” GE Vernova says.
Early investigations of the US incident suggested the blade failure was due to a manufacturing fault – and the US-headquartered GE Vernova has since confirmed this, and committed to reinspect all of the blades made at a factory in Canada that has supplied Vineyard Wind 1.
“We have identified a material deviation, or a manufacturing deviation, in one of our factories that through the inspection or quality assurance process, we should have identified,” the company’s CEO Scott Strazik said in an earnings call in late July.
“Because of that, we’re going to use our existing data and reinspect all of the blades that we have made for offshore wind and for context in this factory in Gaspé, Canada where the material deviation existed, we’ve made about 150 blades, so that gives you an indication and context of the work ahead.”
But Strazik also told investors and analysts that there was no indication of an engineering design flaw in the blade, nor any evidence of a connection to the May Dogger Bank A incident.
“We have not identified information indicating an engineering design flaw in the blade or information of a connection with the blade event we experienced in an Offshore Wind project in the UK, which was caused by an installation error out at sea,” he said.
The cause or extent of this week’s blade failure at Dogger Bank A is not yet known.
The wind industry has been engaged in a relentless race to deliver turbines with ever increasing generation capacity, as projects grow in their ambition to keep pace with the urgent task of electricity grid decarbonisation.
China’s Goldwind has had a 16MW turbine in operation since the end of last year and fellow China outfit Mingyang last month completed construction of a 16.6MW twin-rotor floating wind turbine platform dubbed OceanX. German renewables giant Siemens Gamesa is reportedly planning to produce a 21MW wind turbine in a bid to compete with its Chinese rivals.
But the battle of the megawatts has pushed the limits of wind generation technologies and tested the economic feasibility of some companies faced with growing maintenance and repair bills.
In January 2023, Siemens Gamesa revealed that faulty components had blown a €472 million hole in its December quarterly result, and in June adjusted up the bill to fix its troubled wind division to more than €1 billion ($1.6 billion), as it scrambled to get on top of high turbine failure rates.
By November of last year, the German government had agreed to bail the energy giant out to the tune of €7.5 billion as part of a larger €15 billion package designed to help the company overcome ongoing turmoil in its wind turbine unit.
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| From: Eric | 9/2/2024 8:30:25 AM | | | | | | World-first 20MW offshore wind turbine installed in China
Image Credit: Mingyang Smart Energy
Joshua S Hill
Sep 2, 2024
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Chinese renewable energy equipment manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy has taken the battle to build, install, and operate the world’s largest wind turbines to the next level, successfully completing the installation of a 20MW behemoth.
Despite concerns that companies battling to boast increasingly larger wind turbines may undermine efforts to reduce and stabilise supply chain costs, wind turbine manufacturers are still battling it out for the biggest and most powerful.
Mingyang Smart Energy, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of clean energy technologies for the wind, solar, energy storage, and hydrogen industries, announced on its LinkedIn account late last week that it had successfully completed the installation of its MySE18.X-20MW offshore wind turbine.
Image Credit: Mingyang Smart Energy
Located on the island Chinese province of Hainan, the 20MW turbine was billed as “the world’s largest single-capacity offshore wind turbine” and boasts a flexible wind rotor diameter of between 260 to 292 metres.
Featuring a modular and lightweight design, the MySE18.X-20MW turbine can generate 80GWh each year, offsetting 66,000 tons of CO2 emissions – equivalent to the annual consumption of 96,000 residents.
It is Mingyang’s second offshore wind milestone in just the last few months, after the company completed construction of a twin-rotor floating wind turbine platform dubbed OceanX, featuring two turbines on a V-shaped platform with a total capacity of 16.6GW.
Image Credit: Mingyang Smart Energy
Mingyang described OceanX as “the world’s largest single-capacity floating wind turbine platform”, claiming that the technology had been designed for deep water applications and is capable of producing 54GWh of electricity each year.
The installation of Mingyang’s 20MW turbine secures the title for world’s largest turbine installation, beating out Chinese competitor Dongfang Electric Corporation which announced only a few months ago that it had installed an 18MW turbine.
Image Credit: Dongfang Electric Corporati
on Dongfang’s 18MW turbine, at the time the world’s largest turbine, itself boasted a rotor diameter of 260 metres and was capable of generating 72GWh of electricity each year.
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| From: Eric | 9/3/2024 11:33:32 AM | | | | | | Newest wind farm tops rankings again in August, as solar stars gather in the north
Image: Water Corporation
Giles Parkinson
Sep 3, 2024
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One of the newest wind farms in Australia, and the newest in its home state of Western Australia, has once again topped the performance rankings for the sector in August, posting a near record-breaking capacity factor of 61.1 per cent for the month.
The 76 megawatt (MW) Flat Rocks wind farm, near Kojonup in the south-west of W.A., has topped the rankings for wind farm performance for two months in a row, and – curiously – was the only wind project in that state to make it to the top 20, according to data published by energy analysts at Rystad Energy on Tuesday.
The rest of the top performing wind farms were scattered across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, all boosted by the huge weather system that swapped across the south of the country in the past week.
Among those posting monthly capacity factors of more than 50 per cent were the Granville and Cattle Hill wind farms in Tasmania, the Berryback, Mortons Lane and Dundonnell 3 wind farms in Victoria, and the Hornsdale 1 and 2 wind farms in South Australia.
Flat Rocks is one one of the few wind farms located south of Perth, in a region which enjoys strong wind conditions in winter. Most of the state’s wind capacity is north of Perth, and have better results in summer.
The top ranking solar farms all went down to location, with Queensland predictably providing 16 of the top 20 performing solar projects in the month of August, and north and west NSW the other four.
Source: Rystad Energy
The best ranking solar projects, and those with capacity factors of 25 per cent or more, were the Edenvale, Blue Grass and Rugby Run solar farms. The best NSW solar farms were located at Wyalong, Nyngan, Griffith and Moree.
According to Rystad’s David Dixon, the combined output of all Australian utility PV and wind assets totalled 4,354 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the month, up nearly 20 per cent from 3,654 GWh in August 2023.
That is based on a more than 20 per cent increase in operational capacity – 23.3 GW vs 20.4 GW. Dixon notes that the average capacity factor for the month was 29.8 per cent, versus 27.1 per cent in the same month a year ago.
But solar capacity factor fell to 17.4 per cent from 19.6 per cent, probably as a result of the negative wholesale prices which fell mostly in the middle of the day thanks to the influence of rooftop solar PV.
At a state level Victoria was in top spot generating 1,321 GWh with 102 GWh from utility PV and 1,219 GWh from wind.
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| From: Eric | 9/14/2024 8:15:14 AM | | | | | | Wind powers a record summer for renewable energy in Britain, record low for fossil fuels
Humber Gateway offshore wind farm. Image: Power Technology
Grant Wilson, Daniel L Donaldson & Iain Staffell
Sep 13, 2024
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Great Britain’s electricity system made a big leap forward in August 2024. The amount of power generated by fossil fuels fell to 3.6 terrawatt-hours (TWh), its lowest level in over a century. This meant that each kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed during August emitted on average just 84 grams of CO2.
The record-low contribution of fossil fuels to British electricity in August will have affected household emissions.
Heating your home with an average heat pump in August would have been eight times cleaner than using a gas boiler for instance, while charging a typical electric vehicle could have been about ten times cleaner than a petrol car....
Before August 2024, monthly generation from fossil fuels had never dipped below 4 TWh, even during the lockdowns of 2020 when demand for electricity and transport fuels plummeted.
What’s more exciting is that this was the first time fossil fuels (98.5% gas and 1.5% coal) fell to third place in the British electricity mix over an entire month. (Just to note, Northern Ireland not part of the British grid, it is part of the integrated Irish electricity grid).
This year’s milestones are encouraging signals that Britain’s energy transition is gathering much needed pace, paving the way for a future with less reliance on volatile imported fossil fuels and less impact on the environment. Indeed, by the end of September 2024, the UK’s last coal-fired power station will close, leaving gas as the only fossil fuel left to phase out.
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| From: Eric | 9/16/2024 1:53:51 PM | | | | | | 
1st Offshore Wind Lease Sale in Gulf of Maine to Power More than 4.5 Million Homes
1 hour ago
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Lease areas have potential to power over 4.5 million homes
WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced it will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale on Oct. 29, 2024, for eight areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. If fully developed, these areas have a potential capacity of approximately 13 gigawatts of clean offshore wind energy, which could power more than 4.5 million homes. The announcement follows the Department’s recent announcement that it has approved more than 15 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects since the start of the Biden-Harris administration— equivalent to half of the capacity needed to achieve President Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
Since the start of the Biden–Harris administration, the Department has held five offshore wind lease sales, including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and sales offshore the Pacific, Central Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico, and approved 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects. Earlier this year, Secretary Haaland announced a schedule of potential additional lease sales through 2028.
“The growing enthusiasm for the clean energy future is infectious. Today’s announcement — which builds on the execution of the nation’s first floating offshore wind energy research lease in Maine last month — is the result of years of thoughtful coordination between our team, the Gulf of Maine states, industry and the Tribes and ocean users who share our interest in the health and longevity of our ocean,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “The Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering commitment to building a vibrant and sustainable offshore clean energy sector is strengthening our fight against the climate crisis and building a healthier, more resilient planet for generations to come.”
“The upcoming Gulf of Maine offshore wind energy auction reflects our all-of-government approach for reaching the Biden-Harris Administration’s energy goals while combatting the climate crisis,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “Together, we can do our part to facilitate a new American industry while fostering job growth and promoting equitable economic opportunities for all communities.”
The President’s Investing in America agenda is growing the American economy from the middle out and bottom up – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over half a trillion dollars in new private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating good-paying jobs and building a clean energy economy that will combat the climate crisis and make our communities more resilient.
Today’s announcement is built upon the best available science, including the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s ecosystem-based spatial suitability model, as well as over two
Image from BOEM years of extensive engagement with Tribes, fishing interests, and stakeholders across the region. Information gained through this engagement, including public comments, was instrumental in determining the final location, size and shape of the eight lease areas.
The area included in the Final Sale Notice (FSN) is approximately 120,000 acres less than what the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) included in its Proposed Sale Notice, which was announced earlier this year. BOEM prioritized the avoidance of offshore fishing grounds, sensitive habitats, and existing and future vessel transit routes, while still retaining sufficient acreage to support the region’s offshore wind energy goals.
The FSN for the Gulf of Maine auction includes details regarding the auction, provisions, and conditions of the leases, the lease form, information on bidding credits, criteria for evaluating competing bids, award procedures, appeal procedures, and lease execution. The FSN includes several lease stipulations designed to promote the development of a robust domestic U.S. supply chain for floating wind and create good-paying union jobs, advance flexibility in transmission planning, minimize habitat impacts, and collect data on protected marine mammals. The FSN will publish in the Federal Register on September 17, 2024.
The issuance of any lease resulting from this sale does not authorize the construction and operations of an offshore wind facility. A lease provides the right to submit project-specific plans. Such plans, if submitted, would be subject to environmental, technical, and public reviews prior to a decision on whether the project proposals should be approved.
Details on the FSN, along with a map of the lease areas can be found on the BOEM’s website.
Courtesy of US Department of the Interior.
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