BOEM Postpones Oregon’s Offshore Wind Lease Sale

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has decided to delay the offshore wind energy auction planned for potential lease areas offshore Oregon due to insufficient bidder interest at this time.

On August 29, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for offshore wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Oregon following engagement through the Oregon Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force.

The FSN set an auction date for October 15, 2024 for two lease areas offshore Oregon and identified the five companies qualified to participate in the sale.

The identified companies include Avangrid Renewables, BlueFloat Energy Oregon, North America Ventures, Mainstream Renewable Power, and South Coast Energy Waters I.

Following issuance of the FSN, BOEM received bidding interest from only one of the five qualified companies.

“In determining a future opportunity for a potential lease sale, BOEM will continue to collaborate with representatives from federal, state and local agencies and Tribal governments, to coordinate on potential leasing and support ongoing stakeholder engagement processes on broader offshore wind considerations, such as the state-led development of a strategic roadmap for offshore wind,” BOEM said.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department has approved the nation's first ten commercial scale offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of approximately 15 GW of clean energy — enough to power 5.25 million homes.

Since January 2021, the Department has held five offshore wind lease auctions – including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and New jersey and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as recently announced schedule of potential additional lease sales through 2028.