The US’ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has designated eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the US central Atlantic coast for public review and comment, with the objective to develop offshore wind projects. BOEM will accept comments from 16 November until 16 December 2022.
The designated WEAs cover approximately 1.7 million acres (6,880 km2) off the states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, with their closest points ranging from 19 to 77 nautical miles (35 to 143 km) from the US Atlantic coast. The eight draft WEAs represent a subset of the original 3.9 million acres of the Call Area that the Department of the Interior announced for public comment in April 2022.
Earlier in November 2022, the BOEM designated two Wind Energy Areas for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico, off the US states of Texas and Louisiana. They cover approximately 2,700 km2 and have the potential to produce enough energy to power around 3 million households.
At the federal level, the United States target 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035 (only 42 MW were operational at the end of 2021).
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