The national push to bring offshore wind power to the Central Coast reached another milestone this week.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it’d set a lease sale date of Dec. 6 to auction off the five call areas proposed for offshore wind development near Morro Bay and Humboldt.
Covering 376 square miles some 20-plus miles offshore, the Morro Bay lease areas are expected to house floating wind farms that can generate up to 3 gigawatts (GW) of electricity—enough power for 2 million homes.
Central Coast elected leaders celebrated the news on Oct. 18.
“After years of collaboration with our local, state, and federal partners, we are now only a few weeks away from proving that the Central Coast is leading the charge on our renewable energy transformation by becoming home to one of the first-ever offshore wind leases on the West Coast,” U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) said in a statement.
The five total call areas on the California coast cover 373,268 acres, and have the potential to produce more than 4.5 GW of power.
In a statement about the lease sale, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared it “a historic step toward achieving [a state] goal of 90 percent clean energy by 2035.”
“California could not have better partners in our march toward a clean energy future than the Biden-Harris administration. Together, we’re fighting for energy independence and a future free of fossil fuels and full of clean energy sources like offshore wind,” Newsom said.
According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a “final sale notice” will soon publish in the federal register, which will provide “detailed information about the final lease areas, lease provisions and conditions, and auction details.”
“It also identifies qualified companies who can participate in the lease auction,” a department press release read.
The lease will include specific conditions designed to “promote the development of a robust domestic U.S. supply chain, advance flexibility in transmission planning, and create good paying union jobs.”
“BOEM will offer bidding credits for bidders who enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development; require winning bidders to make efforts to enter into project labor agreements; and require engagement with tribes, underserved communities, ocean users, and agencies,” the press release read.
While a lease sale for offshore wind production is unprecedented on the West Coast, similar auctions on the East Coast have drawn significant interest and investment.
A recent wind farm auction held in February for areas off the coast of New York and New Jersey drew $4.37 billion in high bids, according to Reuters.
In all, BOEM has held 10 competitive lease sales in the Atlantic Ocean, issuing 27 active commercial wind leases from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
“The demand and momentum to build a clean energy future is undeniable,” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “I am proud of the teams at the Interior Department that are moving forward at the pace and scale required to help achieve the president’s goals to make offshore wind energy, including floating offshore wind energy, a reality for the United States.” Δ
This article appears in Oct 20-30, 2022.