US government considers sale of Guam offshore wind leases in 2028; completion of Port of Hawaii study, fifth meeting of Task Force

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of Hawaii held the fifth task force meeting on August 22 to determine a potential path forward for offshore wind energy planning in the state. As reported in April, BOEM aims to organize the first offshore wind lease sale in Hawaii in 2028, and possibly also in Guam or a U.S. territory in the Caribbean.

In April, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new five-year offshore wind leasing plan for up to 12 potential lease sales through 2028. According to the schedule, at the end of that period, the administration plans to conduct a second round of auctions in California and the Gulf of Maine, as well as the first lease sales for offshore wind power in Hawaii and a US territory.

In a fact sheet issued in April, BOEM identified the U.S. territory that may also host the first offshore wind lease sale in four years as either Guam or a territory in the Caribbean region.

According to the federal agency, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) amended the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to allow the leasing of wind energy off the coast of U.S. territories.

BOEM said in the fact sheet that the governor of Guam has expressed interest in advancing offshore wind planning, and that the agency has had initial discussions with the government of Puerto Rico and has also contacted the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“BOEM plans to work with stakeholders in these areas, and if suitable areas are identified and interest continues, BOEM anticipates a lease sale could occur as early as 2028.”

BOEM and the Government of Guam have Establishment of the BOEM Guam Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Forcewhich initiates the first planning step in the BOEM renewable energy permitting process.

According to information on the federal agency’s website, the first BOEM Guam Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force The meeting will take place on September 11, 2024.

US government considers sale of Guam offshore wind leases in 2028; completion of Port of Hawaii study, fifth meeting of Task Force — BOM

In Hawaii, work is progressing on the state’s first lease sale: studies have been completed and five intergovernmental working group meetings on renewable energy have been held so far, the most recent meeting being held in Honolulu on August 22.

In July of this year, BOEM released the Hawaii Floating Offshore Wind Regional Ports Assessment report after completing a study analyzing the current and planned infrastructure of Hawaii’s ports to assess their suitability to support floating wind turbines.

BOEM and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) deployed a floating LiDAR off the coast of Hawaii, east of Oahu, in December 2022.

In 2014 and 2015, BOEM received three unsolicited wind lease requests from two potential developers, two from AW Hawaii Wind, part of Denmark’s Alpha Wind Energy group, and one from Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind, a U.S.-based floating wind developer.

A capacity of 400 MW is proposed for each project.

In 2016, Equinor (then known as Statoil) emerged as a third party interested in developing offshore wind projects in the state when BOEM issued a call for information and nominations for additional nominations from companies interested in commercial wind energy leases within a bidding area identified by the agency off the coast of Hawaii.

Following the bidding period, BOEM began the area identification phase of the leasing process to identify areas for environmental analysis and leasing considerations and subsequently announced its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EA) of potential commercial wind leasing and site evaluation activities on the continental shelf offshore the island of Oahu.

In 2021, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory published the study “Costs and Feasibility of Floating Offshore Wind in the Oahu Region,” which provides levelized cost of energy (LCOE) estimates for offshore wind in the Oahu region and examines issues relevant to offshore wind planning.