Interior Department to Auction 122,000 Acres Offshore North Carolina for Wind Energy Development

Date: January 17, 2017
Contact: interior_press@ios.doi.gov
Tracey Moriarty (BOEM) 703-787-1571

WASHINGTON – Furthering President Obama’s comprehensive Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy resources and cut carbon pollution, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank today announced that 122,405 acres offshore Kitty Hawk, North Carolina will be offered in a commercial wind lease sale on March 16, 2017. 

“Today’s announcement demonstrates how our collaborative efforts with Federal, state and local partners over the past eight years have built a foundation to harness the enormous potential of offshore wind energy,” said Secretary Jewell. “The lease sale underscores the growing market demand for renewable energy and strong industry interest in meeting that demand.”

The Kitty Hawk lease sale is the latest effort in the Obama Administration’s renewable energy program at the U.S. Department of the Interior, which recently marked the operational launch of the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, and the lease sale for over 79,000 acres offshore New York. To date, BOEM has held six competitive lease sales, which have generated over $58 million in high bids for more than one million acres in federal waters. 

The Kitty Hawk lease area begins about 24 nautical miles from shore and extends 25.7 nautical miles in a general southeast direction. Its seaward extent ranges from 13.5 nautical miles in the north to .6 of a nautical mile in the south. A map of the lease area can be found here.

“This is a significant milestone for North Carolina and our country as we continue to make progress on diversifying our nation’s energy portfolio,” said Acting Director Cruickshank. “BOEM looks forward to overseeing a successful lease sale in March, to contribute to the region’s energy supply and assist local governments in achieving their goals for energy independence and job creation.” 

Today’s announcement also identifies nine companies that BOEM has deemed legally, technically and financially qualified to participate in the upcoming lease sale:

• Avangrid Renewables, LLC
• Enbridge Holdings (Green Energy) LLC
• Shell WindEnergy Inc.
• Northland Power America Inc.
• Wind Future LLC
• Outer Banks Ocean Energy, LLC
• PNE Wind USA, Inc.
• Statoil Wind US LLC
• wpd offshore Alpha LLC

The Final Sale Notice contains relevant information, such as deadlines and milestones for bidders, the area available for leasing, lease provisions and conditions, auction details, criteria for evaluating bids, award procedures and lease execution.

Under the terms of the Final Sale Notice, which will be published in the Federal Register on January 19, the lease area will be auctioned as Lease OCS-A 0508. 

In September 2015, BOEM published a revised environmental assessment (EA) for commercial wind lease issuance and related activities within the three North Carolina Wind Energy Areas (WEA) (i.e., Kitty Hawk WEA, Wilmington East WEA, and Wilmington West WEA) offshore North Carolina. The EA considers reasonably foreseeable environmental and socioeconomic impacts from issuing a renewable energy lease and conducting site characterization (e.g., surveys) and assessment (e.g., installation and operation of meteorological towers and buoys) activities in the designated offshore area. 

As a result of the analysis in the revised EA, BOEM issued a Finding of No Significant Impact, which concluded that reasonably foreseeable environmental effects associated with the issuance of commercial wind leases and related activities would not significantly impact the environment. 

The Wilmington East and Wilmington West WEAs, due to their proximity and shared attributes, have been coupled with the planning and leasing process for the South Carolina Call Areas. More information about South Carolina’s leasing process can be found here: http://www.boem.gov/South-Carolina/.

For more information on the Kitty Hawk lease area, upcoming auction, and revised EA, visit BOEM’s website at http://www.boem.gov/North-Carolina.