Gulf of Maine offshore wind lease sale brings in $21.9 million in bids

Today, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held the largest offshore wind lease sale the country has ever seen, offering up eight swaths of ocean in the Gulf of Maine. Four lease areas were sold, paving the way for the potential development of up to 6.8 gigawatts of offshore wind power.

Avangrid Renewables, one of the largest renewable energy developers in the nation, secured two leases totaling more than 223,000 acres. The company says it plans to develop 3 GW in wind power — which could be enough for Maine to meet its goal of installing 3 GW of offshore wind by 2040, if the project comes online quickly enough. Invenergy NE Offshore Wind won two leases consisting of nearly 216,000 acres. Altogether, the four areas, if fully developed, could power 2.3 million homes and businesses in the coming years.

This morning’s sale comes amid a tumultuous period for offshore wind. Supply-chain constraints, rising material costs, and higher interest rates have all set the industry back in recent years. Last summer, a lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico drew low bids. And in September, a sale in Oregon was canceled due to lack of interest.

But today, offshore wind advocates are celebrating. ​“This successful lease sale is a momentous step forward for Maine’s goals to tackle climate change and build a new clean energy industry centered on our proud maritime and shipbuilding heritage,” Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said in a statement.

The lease sale puts the Gulf of Maine on track to be one of the first commercial sites in the U.S. for floating wind turbines, which unlock access to stronger and more consistent winds in deeper waters.

Normally, offshore wind turbines are cemented directly into the ocean floor. That works well in shallower waters, but in deeper areas, like the Gulf of Maine, construction underwater becomes difficult. Floating wind is necessary in these locations: Turbines are connected to large buoyant platforms made of steel and cement, and are moored with heavy chains to the sea bed.

There are just a few floating arrays in the world, and those have only a limited number of turbines. But the technology could play a critical role in expanding the clean energy source, which is key to the grid decarbonization plans of many coastal states. The Biden Administration has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. Right now, it’s not on track to achieve this. Of the eleven states with targets for offshore wind development, just two of them — New York and Massachusetts — currently receive power from large-scale offshore wind installations.

Floating offshore wind is ​“just one of the many resources that we have to use in the toolkit, but in some places, like Maine, it’s the best alternative [energy] to being able to meet their energy goals,” said Walter Musial, chief engineer for offshore wind energy at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Most of the West coast will also require floating arrays to make offshore wind power possible.

The Gulf of Maine, at around 200 meters deep, is ​“the sweet spot for floating wind,” Musial said, and also has some of the ​“most productive winds in the country.”

If projects move forward following today’s sale, floating turbines could bring power onshore to not only Maine but a number of New England states. Maine plans to coordinate on regional transmission of any offshore wind power with its bordering states, the Maine Governor’s Energy Office told Canary Media.

A lot needs to happen first. Before any construction on floating wind arrays can begin, Maine needs to establish a port where all the components for the turbines and platforms can be assembled. For floating wind especially, everything must be put together onshore not too far from where the array will be situated, since the parts are so large and unwieldy.

Maine has selected Sears Island as the location for a $760 million port. Last week, federal officials at the Department of Transportation rejected the state’s request for $456 million in funding for the port, leaving the state to look for financing elsewhere.

“The challenge for floating wind is to really get the infrastructure in place so that we can scale it up to the project size that’s necessary for cost reductions,” Musial said. ​“That’s a global challenge, not just in the Gulf of Maine.”

Meanwhile, in August, BOEM approved plans for the country’s first floating offshore wind research array in the Gulf of Maine, which will consist of 12 turbines.

As a result of legislation passed in 2023, Maine’s wind projects need to meet strong labor standards and incur minimal environmental impacts. All arrays must be built outside of Maine’s key fishing and lobstering grounds — a win for both fishing and Tribal communities who rely on those waters for their livelihoods.

“Maine has a huge opportunity to secure renewable, reliable, and domestic energy for the state and the region in the form of offshore wind right off our coast, and that’s creating good jobs fighting climate change while we do it,” said Celina Cunningham, deputy director at Maine Governor’s Energy Office.

“We do need to get it right, and we will continue to build on the stakeholder engagement that we’ve done so far.”