The Biden administration announced plans to carry out the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico in service of its goal to facilitate the installation of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
The Interior Department announced the proposed sale on Wednesday, which covers more than 300,000 acres in three wind energy areas off the coasts of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, estimated to be sufficient to power approximately 1.3 million homes.
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It would be the fourth offshore wind lease sale to be carried out since President Joe Biden took office.
“There is no time to waste in making bold investments to address the climate crisis, and building a strong domestic offshore wind industry is key to meeting that challenge head-on,” Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement Wednesday.
Interior carried out two offshore wind lease sales in the Atlantic in 2022, one offshore of New York and New Jersey and the other offshore of the Carolinas. The other lease sale covered acreage off the coast of California.
Offshore wind is one of the renewable energy sources Biden wants to support as part of his larger agenda to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector.
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The Gulf of Mexico is a significant source of oil and gas production but has been looked over for offshore wind development in favor of other waters, especially the Atlantic, where most of the offshore wind projects are under development.
At least two commercial-scale offshore wind projects are expected to begin generating electricity this year.
