Five companies have qualified to bid in an Oct. 15 auction of two offshore wind areas off Oregon, according to a final sale notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The first offshore wind sale in the Pacific Northwest will cover an area dubbed Coos Bay, some 61,203 acres about 32 miles from shore, and the Brookings tract, 133,792 acres around 18 miles offshore.
Qualified bidders noted on BOEM’s final sale notice issued Aug. 29 are Avangrid Renewables, LLC; BlueFloat Energy Oregon, LLC; OW North America Ventures, LLC; US Mainstream Renewable Power Inc.; and South Coast Energy Waters I, LLC.
The sale notice was published Sept. 3 in the Federal Register. If fully developed, the two tracts totaling nearly 195,000 acres could support projects with a nameplate power potential of 3.1 gigawatts, according to BOEM.
Deepwater sites off the U.S. West Coast will require floating wind turbines, still an emerging technology in the industry. The sale notice includes stipulations to “promote the development of a robust domestic U.S. supply chain for floating wind, advance flexibility in transmission planning, and create good-paying union jobs,” according to BOEM.
Bidding credits are offered for companies that enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development. Other stipulations require successful bidders to seek project labor agreements, and “require engagement with Tribes, underserved communities, ocean users, and others.”
Back in February, BOEM’s announcement of the final outline of wind energy areas provoked loud protests from Oregon Tribes and the commercial fishing industry. The agency’s move shifting WEAs farther offshore, in a bid to reduce visual and fishing impacts, did little to prevent that resistance.
“We gave BOEM our track lines for where we fish, and I guess they have decided that our businesses and livelihoods are worth trading off to create gigantic wind farms,” said fisherman Chris Cooper of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative at the time. “We will not be able to fish in these areas and we have no idea what the impact of these installations will be on the fish species found in there.”
Offshore wind advocates welcomed the sale notice stipulations, saying those will help develop the industrial base and supply chain to support deepwater development.
“By answering the call, BOEM and Oregon are aligning with newly enacted DOI policies in support of a clean energy initiative that will help meet the state’s offshore wind goals and create numerous benefits for the region,” said Liz Burdock, CEO of the Oceantic Network. “The Network looks forward to continuing its work with BOEM to support offshore wind development on the West Coast.”
