The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management cancelled its planned Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale, saying it saw scant commercial interest in four leases of 410,060 acres off Louisiana and Texas.
BOEM’s first lease sale in the Gulf in August 2023 had one successful bid from German energy firm RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC. RWE was the only company among 25 commenters responding to the agency’s latest lease sale notice in March 2024.
“As a result, BOEM is cancelling this sale due to a lack of competitive interest. BOEM may decide to move forward with a lease sale at a future time, based on industry interest,” the agency said July 26.
Meanwhile, BOEM said it has also received an unsolicited lease request from renewable energy developer Hecate Energy Gulf Wind LLC, Chicago, Ill., for areas off southeast Texas. In 2021 BOEM mapped out the area as two potential Wind Energy Areas totaling 142,352 acres.
With Hecate’s lease request, BOEM is issuing a Request for Competitive Interest to determine if other companies may be interested in bidding on those areas. The RFCI will be published in the Federal Register on July 29.
Offshore wind power prospects in the Gulf of Mexico have not attracted the same attention of developers like the U.S. East Coast, where wind speeds are consistently higher and energy much in demand for the urban centers. Still, BOEM officials put a sunny spin on their July 26 announcement.
“The Gulf region benefits from great offshore wind resources and existing energy infrastructure,” said James Kendall, the agency’s Gulf of Mexico regional director. "The interest from industry leaders such as Hecate and RWE demonstrates the commercial potential in the region. As we continue to explore these opportunities, we will ensure that any potential development is done in a way that avoids, reduces, or mitigates potential impacts to ocean users and the environment.”
