The US announces the first offshore wind rights sale in the Gulf of Mexico

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) – The United States announced the first rights sale for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, which President Joe Biden will discuss during a trip to highlight his administration’s efforts to boost renewable energy.

In February, the US proposed expanding offshore wind power developments to the Gulf of Mexico, introducing the nascent clean energy industry to an important hub for oil and gas production.

The Home Office said the sale will take place on August 29.

“By catalyzing the offshore wind energy potential in the Gulf of Mexico, we can tackle the climate crisis, reduce energy costs for families and create good-paying jobs,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

The sale will include a 102,480-acre lease off Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two leases totaling nearly 200,000 acres off Galveston, Texas, the White House said. Companies will bid for the right to develop these acres.

The sites have the potential to generate around 3.7 Gigawatts of electricity, supplying nearly 1.3 million homes with clean energy, the Interior Ministry said.

The Biden administration has held three offshore wind lease auctions, including the largest-ever such U.S. sale last year for areas off the coast of New York and New Jersey, which attracted a record $1.5 billion in bids, and the first ever off the Pacific coast of California.

The White House said Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Thursday to present his promise of a green economy to unionized workers, who remain skeptical that the solar, wind and electric vehicle industries can deliver the same economic power for organized labor as oil refineries and fossil power plants.

Reporting by Jeff Mason and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Sonali Paul and David Holmes

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