Description: Cape WindThe Cape Wind Energy Project was proposed by Cape Wind Associates, LLC, in November 2001. Prior to BOEM’s involvement, the United States Army Corps of Engineers assumed the lead federal regulatory role under the River and Harbors Act, and issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in November 2004. Following the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the former Minerals Management Service assumed lead federal responsibility for offshore wind power projects. On September 14, 2005, Cape Wind applied for a commercial lease to construct and operate an offshore wind facility located in Federal waters offshore Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. On April 28, 2010, Department of the Interior Secretary Salazar announced the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Cape Wind Project. The ROD documents the decision to select the Preferred Alternative at Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, as described in the final Environmental Impact Statement.On October 6, 2010, Cape Wind was issued the nation’s first commercial lease to construct and operate an offshore wind power facility for the Massachusetts and the Cape Cod region. The lease area is comprised of approximately 46 square miles in Nantucket Sound offshore Massachusetts, which accounts for both the project area and a buffer zone. For more information: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Studies/Cape-Wind.aspxMassachusettsOn Jan. 29, 2015, BOEM held a competitive lease sale (i.e., auction) for the Wind Energy Area offshore Massachusetts. Two leasing areas in the northwest section of the original WEA (Lease Area OCS-A 0500 - 187,523 acres and OCS-A 0501 - 166,886 acres) were auctioned to the winning bidders of RES America Developments Inc. and Offshore MW LLC. On June 12, 2015 lease OCS-A 0500 was assigned to Bay State Wind LLC (DONG Energy). For more information: http://www.boem.gov/Commercial-Wind-Leasing-Offshore-Massachusetts/Rhode Island / MassachusettsOn July 31, 2013, BOEM auctioned the Rhode Island/Massachusetts WEA, which represented our nation's first competitive lease sale. BOEM auctioned the area as two leases, referred to as the North Lease Area (Lease OCS-A 0486) and the South Lease Area (Lease OCS-A 0487). The North Lease Area consisted of about 97,500 acres and the South Lease Area consisted of about 67,250 acres. On October 1, 2013 leases for both areas became effective with Deepwater Wind New England LLC as the lessee. Leases:North Lease Area - OCS-A 0486 - approximately 97,500 acres: Commercial Lease OCS-A 0486South Lease Area - OCS-A 0487 - approximately 67,250 acres: Commercial Lease OCS-A 0487Rhode IslandOn December 1, 2014 a Right-of-Way Grant (ROW) offshore Rhode Island with Deepwater Wind Block Island Transmission, LLC became effective. The eight nautical mile-long, 200-foot wide corridor in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) connects a proposed offshore wind farm, located in Rhode Island state waters approximately 2.5 nautical miles southeast of Block Island, to the Rhode Island mainland. On January 29, 2015 BOEM approved an assignment of ROW grant OCS-A 0506 from Deepwater Wind to The Narragansett Electric Company (TNEC). For more information: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/RI/Block-Island-Transmission-System.aspxDelawareSecretary Salazar announced on October 23, 2012 that BOEM has reached agreement on a commercial wind energy lease with Bluewater Wind Delaware, LLC for an area of the OCS offshore Delaware. The Delaware Notice of Determination of No Competitive Interest (DNCI) was published in the Federal Register on April 12, 2011 under Docket ID: BOEM-2011-0008. The Delaware Notice of Proposed Lease Area and Request for Competitive Interest (RFCI) was published in the Federal Register on January 26, 2011 under Docket ID: BOEMRE-2010-0075For more information: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Delaware.aspxMarylandIn November 2010, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) initiated the leasing process offshore Maryland by issuing a Request for Interest (RFI) to gauge industry’s interest in obtaining commercial wind leases in an area offshore of Maryland. The western edge of the Call Area is approximately 10 nautical miles from the Ocean City, Md., coast, and the eastern edge is approximately 23 nautical miles from the same location. The longest part of the north/south portion is approximately 13 nautical miles and the longest part of the east/west portion is approximately 13 nautical miles. The entire area is approximately 32,256 hectares (79,706 acres).Federal Register notices:11/09/2010 – Request for Interest(RFI)02/03/2012 – Call for Information(Call)02/03/2012 - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement(NOI)12/18/2013 - Proposed Sale Notice(PSN)07/03/2014 - Final Sale Notice(FSN)For more information: Maryland State Activities Home PageNew JerseyOn November 9, 2015, BOEM held Atlantic Wind Lease Sale Five (ATLW5) for the Wind Energy Area (WEA) offshore New Jersey. The New Jersey WEA includes about 343,833 acres. It begins about 7 nautical miles offshore and extends roughly 21 nm seaward. BOEM auctioned the area as two leases: Lease OCS-A 0498 (South Lease Area) and Lease OCS-A 0499 (North Lease Area). The South Lease Area consists of 160,480 acres and the North Lease Area consists of 183,353 acres.Federal Register notices:04/20/2011 – Call for Information07/17/2014 Proposed Sale Notice09/25/2015 - Final Sale Notice11/09/2015 Lease SaleFor more information: New Jersey State Activities Home PageNew YorkOn December 15, 2016, BOEM held Atlantic Wind Lease Sale Six (ATLW6) for Lease Area OCS-A 0512 Offshore New York. The lease area is located 11.5 nautical miles from Jones Beach, NY. From its western edge, the area extends approximately 24 nmi southeast at its longest portion and consists of 5 full OCS blocks and 143 sub-blocks. The entire area is approximately 79,350 acres, or 32,112 hectares. Statoil Wind US LLC, which bid $42,469,725 was the winner of lease area OCS-A 0512.On March 16, 2016, the Department of Interior announced that BOEM has identified a Wind Energy Area (WEA) offshore New York. The WEA’s closest point to shore is 11 nautical miles (nmi) from Long Beach, NY. From its western edge, the area extends approximately 26 nmi southeast at its longest portion. The project area consists of 5 full OCS blocks and 148 sub-blocks. The entire area is approximately 127 square miles, 81,130 acres, or 32,832 hectares.Federal Register Notices:01/04/2013 - Request for Interest(RFI)05/28/2014 - Call for Information05/28/2014 - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment03/16/2016 - Wind Energy Area Announcement06/06/2016 - Proposed Sale Notice(PSN)06/06/2016 - Environmental Assessment(EA)10/31/2016 - Final Sale Notice(FSN)10/31/2016 - Revised Environmental Assessment(EA)For more information: New York State Activities Home PageVirginiaA commercial lease with Virginia Electric and Power Company (dba Dominion Virginia Power) for the Virginia Wind Energy Area went into effect on November 1, 2013. The commercial lease sale (i.e., auction) for this lease was held September 4, 2013, representing the second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The area covers approximately 112,799 acres and its western edge is located about 23.5 nautical miles from the Virginia Beach coastline.For more information: Virginia Commercial Lease Web PageResearch Lease VirginiaOn March 24, 2015, BOEM announced it has executed the first wind energy research lease in U.S. federal waters with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME). This project is referred to as the Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advancement Project (VOWTAP). On March 23, 2016, BOEM approved the project's Research Activities Plan (RAP). In conjunction with RAP approval, the project easement requested in the RAP was also granted. The project easement consists of a 200ft corridor from the lease area landward to the Submerged Lands Act Boundary (federal/state line). RAP Approval - Easement For more information: http://www.boem.gov/VOWTAP/North CarolinaOn March 16, 2017, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank announced the completion of the nation’s seventh competitive lease sale for renewable wind energy in federal waters. A Wind Energy Area of 122,405 acres offshore Kitty Hawk, North Carolina received the high bid of $9,066,650 from Avangrid Renewables, LLC, the provisional winner.12/13/2012 - Call for Information and Nominations(Call)9/15/2015 - Revised Environmental Assessment(EA)8/16/2016 - Proposed Sale Notice and Request for Interest(PSN/RFI)1/18/2017 - Final Sale Notice(FSN)For more information: North Carolina State Activities Home Page
Copyright Text: Public information, no credit necessary.
Compiler is Josh Wadlington - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Additional collaborators are Christine Taylor and Frank Pendleton - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Description: This data set represents the most recent changes for the Wind Development Planning Areas in the Atlantic. Wind Planning Areas in this dataset represent up to six different types of announcements within the US Federal Register (FR) that can be used to show the current status of an area that is being considered for wind power development. Additionally, unsolicited proposed lease areas that have not yet began the leasing process are also included. Individual projects are listed by state below. Previous Wind Planning Areas that are now designated as leases can be found in the BOEM Lease Areas feature class.MassachusettsOn Jan. 29, 2015, BOEM held a competitive lease sale (i.e., auction) for the Wind Energy Area offshore Massachusetts. Two leasing areas in the northwest section of the original WEA (Lease Area OCS-A 0500 - 187,523 acres and OCS-A 0501 - 166,886 acres) were auctioned to the winning bidders of RES America Developments, Inc. and Offshore MW LLC. Those areas are now included in the BOEM Lease Areas shapefile. The remaining Wind Energy Area to the southeast of the leasing areas (previously proposed lease areas OCS-A 0502, OCS-A 503) is located off the coast of Massachusetts beginning approximately 20 nmi south of Martha's Vineyard and 17 nautical miles southwest of Nantucket. It covers an area of approximately 181,728 hectares (449,058 acres). Federal Register Notices:12/29/2010 – Request for Interest(RFI)02/06/2012 – Call for Information02/06/2012 - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment05/30/2012 – Wind Energy Area(WEA)11/02/2012 – Environmental Assessment(EA)06/17/2014 - Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) 11/26/2014 - Final Sale Notice 01/29/2015 - Offshore Wind Auction resultsFor more information: Massachusetts State Activities Home PageNew YorkOn December 30, 2016, PNE Wind USA, Inc. submitted an unsolicited lease request for 40,920 acres offshore New York. If BOEM decides to move forward with this application, the next step will be to issue a public notice to determine whether there is competitive interest in bidding for the area. North CarolinaOn Aug. 11, 2014, BOEM announced that it has identified three Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore North Carolina:The Kitty Hawk WEA begins about 24 nautical miles (nm) from shore and extends approximately 25.7 nm in a general southeast direction. Its seaward extent ranges from 13.5 nm in the north to .6 nm in the south. It contains approximately 21.5 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) blocks (122,405 acres). The Wilmington West WEA begins about 10 nm from shore and extends approximately 12.3 nm in an east-west direction at its widest point. It contains just over 9 OCS blocks (approximately 51,595 acres). The Wilmington East WEA begins about 15 nm from Bald Head Island at its closest point and extends approximately 18 nm in the southeast direction at its widest point. It contains approximately 25 OCS blocks (133,590 acres). Federal Register Notices:12/13/2012 – Call for Information12/13/2012 - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment02/05/2013 – Call for Information (reopening of comment period)08/07/2014 - Area ID09/18/2015 - Environmental Assessment(EA)08/16/2016 - Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) / Request for Interest (RFI)For more information: North Carolina State Activities Home PageSouth CarolinaOn November 23, 2015, BOEM announced it would publish a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to gauge the offshore wind industry’s interest in acquiring commercial wind leases offshore South Carolina. In addition to the Call, BOEM also announced it would publish in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA).11/23/2015 - Call for InformationCaliforniaIn January 2016, BOEM received an unsolicited request for a commercial lease from Trident Winds LLC. (Trident Winds). BOEM reviewed the unsolicited lease application and determined in March 2016 that Trident Winds was legally, technically and financially qualified to hold a commercial lease on the Outer Continental Shelf.1/14/2016 - Trident Winds, LLC lease request8/16/2016 - Request for Interest(RFI)For more information: http://www.boem.gov/California/HawaiiBOEM has received a total of three unsolicited wind energy lease requests from two potential developers: two lease requests from AW Hawaii Wind, LLC (AWH), the AWH Oahu Northwest Project and the AWH Oahu South Project; and one from Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind, Inc. (Progression), the Progression South Coast of Oahu Project. Each project proposes an offshore floating wind energy facility with a capacity of approximately 400 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. The energy generated by the projects would be transmitted to Oahu by undersea cables.AWH Oahu Northwest ProjectAWH Oahu South ProjectProgression South Coast of Oahu ProjectOahu Call Area - In consultation with the Hawaii Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force, BOEM issued a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to gauge the offshore wind industry's interest in acquiring commercial wind leases in two areas spanning approximately 485,000 acres of submerged lands in federal waters offshore Oahu. 6/24/2016 - Call for Information and NominationsFor more information: Hawaii State Activities Home Page
Copyright Text: Public information, no credit necessary.
Compiler of metadata is Josh Wadlington - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Additional collaborators are Christine Taylor and Frank Pendleton - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.