First offshore wind auction for eight sites in the Gulf of Maine set for this week

MAINE PUBLIC • October 28, 2024

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will host the first competitive lease auction Tuesday for eight areas in the Gulf of Maine that federal officials want to develop into commercial offshore wind farms. Two of the potential wind plots are located off the Maine coast. In total, the sites encompass about 850,000 acres. If leased and developed entirely, federal officials say these areas have the potential to generate up to 13 gigawatts of wind energy, enough to power 4.5 million homes.