Renewable Energy Magazine-Wind newsletter

Biden-Harris Administration Sets Offshore Energy Records with $4.37B in Winning Bids for Wind

The Department of the Interior has announced the results of the nation’s highest-grossing competitive offshore energy lease sale in history, including oil and gas lease sales, with the New York Bight offshore wind sale. These results are a major milestone towards achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. Today’s lease sale offered six lease areas totaling over 488,000 acres in the New York Bight for potential wind energy development and drew competitive winning bids from six companies totaling approximately $4.37 billion.

WestWind Energy Partners with Shell to Accelerate Investment in Australian Wind 

WestWind Energy has entred into a new strategic partnership with Shell to support its development of wind energy projects in Australia. Shell will take a 49% interest in WestWind and invest in growing and accelerating the company’s pipeline of new wind energy developments.

NREL Issues Competitiveness Improvement Project Request for Proposals

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP). New this year is an opportunity for manufacturers of small and medium-sized wind turbines to propose solutions focused on developing markets for new products or new markets for existing products.

RWE Successful in New York Bight Offshore Lease Auction 

RWE Renewables announced its success in the New York Bight offshore lease auction in the U.S. Through the joint venture ‘Bight Wind LLC’, RWE secured area OCS-A 0539 with a winning bid of $1.1 billion. The awarded seabed has the potential to host about 3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, enough to power 1.1 million U.S. homes. The project is expected to be in operation by the end of the decade.

In Order to Meet Renewable Energy Goals, We Need Projects Approved Swiftly

The United States government has set lofty goals for transitioning the country to renewable energy. President Biden has ambitions of requiring the U.S. to obtain 80 percent of its power from emissions-free sources by 2030, and the president’s January 27th Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad sets the goal of doubling offshore wind production by the end of the decade. Recent estimates suggest that renewable energy sources could make up anywhere from one third to half of U.S. electricity by the 2030 mark, driven largely by increases in solar and wind power, but Biden’s 80 percent target is unachievable at current growth rates. 

US Offshore Wind 2022