{"id":1199139,"date":"2023-09-03T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=617577"},"modified":"2023-09-03T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T13:00:00","slug":"why-the-gulf-of-mexicos-first-offshore-wind-auction-wasnt-a-smash-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/09\/03\/why-the-gulf-of-mexicos-first-offshore-wind-auction-wasnt-a-smash-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Gulf of Mexico\u2019s first offshore wind auction wasn\u2019t a smash hit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This story was originally published by Canary Media<\/a> and is republished with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Biden administration on Tuesday received a top bid of $5.6 million<\/a> during the first-ever auction of offshore wind development rights in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n German energy giant RWE<\/a> placed the highest bid<\/a> for a 102,500-acre swath of water off the coast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, which has the potential to host 1.24 gigawatts\u2019 worth of offshore wind capacity. Two other lease areas near Galveston, Texas didn\u2019t receive any bids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lease sale is an important step toward building clean energy projects in a\u00a0region that has long been dominated by offshore oil and gas production. Wind turbines are already spinning off the East Coast and more are being installed; meanwhile,\u00a0floating offshore wind farms<\/a>\u00a0are being planned for California\u2019s coastal waters. This week\u2019s auction officially brings the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry to Gulf waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, the sale \u2014 which drew a lackluster response from the industry \u2014 reflects the significant challenges<\/a> facing the offshore wind market in general, and the Gulf of Mexico in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Interior Department\u2019s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management put\u00a0three areas<\/a>\u00a0up for auction that together span nearly\u00a0302,000\u00a0acres off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. The combined lease area has the potential to generate roughly\u00a03.7\u00a0gigawatts of clean electricity once developed, or enough to power nearly\u00a01.3\u00a0million American homes \u2014 though the power generated by these projects could also eventually go toward producing green hydrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile today\u2019s auction fell short of expectations, it is nonetheless a\u00a0critical step for the energy transition on the Gulf Coast,\u201d Josh Kaplowitz, vice president for offshore wind for the\u00a0American Clean Power Association<\/a>, an industry group, said on Tuesday in a\u00a0statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States now has nearly 53 GW<\/a> of offshore wind projects in the early planning, permitting or construction phases \u2014 over a thousand times greater than the current installed capacity of 42 megawatts (0.042 GW). The U.S. project pipeline is booming in large part due to state policies and federal targets for developing offshore wind, including the Biden administration\u2019s goal of deploying 30 GW<\/a> of the renewable energy source by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n