US opens first California offshore wind auction

First lease sale on the west coast to be held in December

The US Department of the Interior has announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Boem) will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale for areas off central and northern California on 6 December 2022, in what will be the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on the west coast of the US. Boem will lease five areas in California’s outer continental shelf totalling 373,268 acres with the potential to site 4.5GW of offshore wind capacity. The final sale notice will be published later this week and provide further detail on the auction and lease provisions and conditions. Boem has confirmed it will offer “bidding credits” to companies that enter into community benefit agreements or otherwis