[USA] DOE, Interior release plan for developing offshore wind transmission in the Atlantic

On September 19, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of the Interior released “An Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region.” [1] The DOE’s Grid Deployment and Wind Energy Technologies Offices and the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) developed the action plan and outlines immediate actions needed to connect Atlantic offshore wind projects to the electric grid. It also details longer-term efforts to support needed transmission over the next several decades.

The plan includes several key recommendations broken down by timelines. Prior to 2025, the plan calls for establishing collaborative bodies that span the Atlantic region and recommends clarifying some of the building blocks of transmission planning, including updating reliability standards and identifying where offshore transmission may interconnect with the onshore grid. It also seeks to address costs through voluntary cost assignments and tax credits. In the 2025 to 2030 timeframe, the plan recommends coordination with states to plan for an offshore transmission network and with industry to standardize requirements for HDVC technology. From 2030 to 2040, it calls for establishing a national HDVC testing and certification center to ensure compatibility when interconnecting multiple HVDC substations to form an offshore grid network. The DOE and multiple Atlantic states have started on the recommendations, forming an Offshore Wind Transmission State Collaborative.

[1] https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-releases-roadmap-accelerate-offshore-wind-transmission-and

[USA] “Interior Announces Region-Wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale for Gulf of Mexico”

(Department of the Interior, 12 July 2018)

Deputy Secretary of the Interior (DOI), David Bernhardt, recently announced that the Department of the Interior (DOI)’s will open up 78 million offshore acres spanning Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida –titled Lease Sale 251- for the exploration and development of oil and gas resources. This regional-lease will include “all available unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.” This strategy is in line with Trump’s “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy.” It is speculated that the Gulf of Mexico holds around 48 billion barrels of “undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered technically recoverable gas.” Vincent DeVito, Counselor to the Secretary for Energy Policy, stated that US energy production can be both competitive and environmentally safe – and this lease will allow the US to have a secure energy future.

[USA] “Trump Administration Proposes Sale for Wind Energy Off Massachusetts Coast”

[DOI, 6 April 2018]

The Department of Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, has revealed the proposed lease sale of two offshore wind projects in Massachusetts. Together, the projects will extend over 390,000 acres and has been identified because of its minimal impacts on fishing habitats and marine animals.” These two projects are seen to be part of Trump’s “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy” and the Administration’s commitment to build a diversified energy portfolio. Zinke also stated, “The Trump Administration supports an all-of-the-above energy policy and using every tool available to achieve American energy dominance.” The Proposed Sale Notice will be open for a 60-day public comment period commencing on April 11, 2018.