The US Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration (BOEM) in the present day introduced it has finalized two Wind Vitality Areas within the Gulf of Mexico that may have the potential to provide sufficient clear power to energy practically 3 million houses.
Wind power is coming to the Gulf of Mexico
The primary space is positioned roughly 24 nautical miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. This space totals 508,265 acres and has the potential to energy 2.1 million houses.
The second space is positioned roughly 56 nautical miles off the coast of Lake Charles, Louisiana. It totals 174,275 acres and has the potential to energy over 740,000 houses.
BOEM barely decreased the scale of the 2 areas from their draft variations to deal with considerations expressed by the Division of Protection and the US Coast Guard relating to delivery, marine navigation, and navy operations.
The Biden administration introduced in July that it might pursue the event of offshore wind power within the Gulf, which is already a hub for oil and gasoline manufacturing.
Ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana‘s marketing campaign director Diane Hoskins stated:
It’s nice to see offshore wind growth advancing within the Gulf of Mexico. Not like soiled and harmful offshore drilling that pollutes our waters and harms frontline communities within the Gulf, offshore wind can assist a simply and equitable transition away from the fossil fuels which can be driving the local weather disaster.
This announcement lays the groundwork for accountable offshore wind growth within the Gulf of Mexico, which can assist decrease power prices, create jobs, and combat local weather change.
Subsequent steps in BOEM’s renewable power aggressive leasing course of embody issuing a Proposed Sale Discover with a 60-day public remark interval later this yr or early in 2023.
The growth of the US offshore wind trade is a key a part of the Biden administration’s plan to decarbonize the electrical energy sector by 2035.
Learn extra: US offshore wind units a report with 58% development in long-term targets in Q3
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