Biden Announces Plans to Expand Wind Energy Farms

The Biden administration intends to develop offshore Wind Energy capacity in the United States quickly, with up to seven new offshore lease sales possible by 2025.  The move was initially reported by The New York Times and announced by US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is looking into leasing sales along the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, including the Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, the central Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as of the Carolinas, California, and Oregon, according to Haaland.

Haaland said that this interior development is laying out an ambitious roadmap as they advance the Administration’s plans to confront climate change, create good-paying jobs, and accelerate the nation’s transition to a cleaner energy future. They have big goals to achieve a clean energy economy and the Interior is meeting the moment.The Biden administration announced in March a coordinated effort to bolster offshore Wind Energy projects in the United States to jump-start a clean energy revolution. The Interior Department estimates that reaching that goal would create nearly 80,000 jobs.

As part of that initiative, which spans multiple government agencies, the Departments of the Interior, Energy and Commerce committed to a shared goal of generating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind in the US by 2030. The Interior Department has already started lease sales for some of the areas Haaland mentioned on Wednesday. The administration also approved in May the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project, located 12 nautical miles off the shore of Martha’s Vineyard.