The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced Sept. 16 it will hold its first wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Maine. Eight areas will be leased, two of which are around 60 miles from the Boothbay Peninsula. The auction is scheduled for Oct. 29.  

According to DOI, if fully developed, the areas have a potential capacity of about 13 gigawatts of energy, enough to power over 4.5 million homes. The lease areas are in previously identified wind energy areas offshore of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 

The final lease notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) states a total of 850,000 acres will be up for sale, which is 120,000 acres less than proposed earlier this year. According to DOI, BOEM prioritized avoiding “offshore fishing grounds, sensitive habitats, and existing and future vessel transit routes, while still retaining sufficient acreage to support the region’s offshore wind energy goals.” 

The Biden administration said it is its goal to achieve 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy in the United States by 2030, and plans are moving forward. Earlier in September, DOI announced it approved over 15 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects in other areas of the country since the start of the administration. In the same timeframe, DOI said it has approved 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects and held five offshore wind lease sales in other parts of the country. DOI also announced in September that 15,000 acres around 30 miles offshore of Portland was part of the nation’s first floating offshore wind energy research lease.

The DOI said a lease does not authorize an offshore wind facility; However, it does provide the right to submit project-specific plans subject to environmental, technical, and public reviews prior to project approval.