US Sale of Wind Development Rights Gets Record-setting Offers
2022-02-26
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1The U.S. government says a sale of wind energy development rights off the East Coast has received record-setting offers.
2The auction sale began February 23.
3Energy companies are offering to buy the development rights for six areas that total more than 197,000 hectares.
4The areas are off the coasts of the states of New Jersey and New York in what is called the New York Bight.
5By early Friday, the offers, or bids, totaled nearly $4 billion.
6It is the first offshore wind lease sale under President Joe Biden's administration.
7Biden has pushed for more wind energy.
8It is an important part of his administration's plans to deal with climate change.
9The administration has said the goal is to create jobs in the United States.
10Europe depends more on energy from wind than North America and has more offshore wind farms.
11There are currently two small offshore wind farms in the United States off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia.
12Two larger projects were recently approved for development.
13Fred Zalcman is the director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance.
14He said, "We're really just at the beginning of a process here."
15He added that the organization hopes to learn from Europe and gain from Europe's cost savings from wind farming.
16The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) oversees energy development in federal waters.
17It is offering the six leases for the areas in the New York Bight.
18The sale is the largest U.S. offshore wind auction ever held.
19The administration has said the energy produced from the areas could one day power nearly 2 million homes.
20The sale was carried out online.
21BOEM's website reported the bids.
22The total is larger than recent combined offers for U.S. government offshore oil and gas sales in the Gulf of Mexico.
23The earlier U.S. offshore wind development auction record was set in 2018.
24It was valued at $405 million.
25BOEM reportedly said 14 companies were involved in the auction.
26Government documents showed that approved bidders included parent companies Equinor ASA, Avangrid Inc, BP Plc, and Eletricite de France SA, among others.
27Under the rules of the auction, each company can only win one lease.
28Before the sale started, there were 25 possible bidders.
29The area up for auction is 22 percent smaller than first proposed because of fishing industry and military concerns.
30Zalcman said that state and federal officials have been considering the concerns of other groups.
31These include the fishing, shipping and boat transportation industries.
32Officials also said they studied the environmental effects on animals and how the farms will appear from the coast.
33A group representing people in New Jersey brought a legal case against BOEM over the plans.
34It said the large wind farms would reduce the number of visitors to the area, hurting the area's economy and property values.
35How developers design the wind farms will be subject to another intense debate.
36I'm Gregory Stachel.
1The U.S. government says a sale of wind energy development rights off the East Coast has received record-setting offers. 2The auction sale began February 23. Energy companies are offering to buy the development rights for six areas that total more than 197,000 hectares. The areas are off the coasts of the states of New Jersey and New York in what is called the New York Bight. 3By early Friday, the offers, or bids, totaled nearly $4 billion. 4It is the first offshore wind lease sale under President Joe Biden's administration. Biden has pushed for more wind energy. It is an important part of his administration's plans to deal with climate change. The administration has said the goal is to create jobs in the United States. 5Europe depends more on energy from wind than North America and has more offshore wind farms. 6There are currently two small offshore wind farms in the United States off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia. Two larger projects were recently approved for development. 7Fred Zalcman is the director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. He said, "We're really just at the beginning of a process here." He added that the organization hopes to learn from Europe and gain from Europe's cost savings from wind farming. 8The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) oversees energy development in federal waters. It is offering the six leases for the areas in the New York Bight. 9The sale is the largest U.S. offshore wind auction ever held. The administration has said the energy produced from the areas could one day power nearly 2 million homes. 10The sale was carried out online. BOEM's website reported the bids. The total is larger than recent combined offers for U.S. government offshore oil and gas sales in the Gulf of Mexico. 11The earlier U.S. offshore wind development auction record was set in 2018. It was valued at $405 million. 12BOEM reportedly said 14 companies were involved in the auction. Government documents showed that approved bidders included parent companies Equinor ASA, Avangrid Inc, BP Plc, and Eletricite de France SA, among others. 13Under the rules of the auction, each company can only win one lease. 14Before the sale started, there were 25 possible bidders. The area up for auction is 22 percent smaller than first proposed because of fishing industry and military concerns. 15Zalcman said that state and federal officials have been considering the concerns of other groups. These include the fishing, shipping and boat transportation industries. Officials also said they studied the environmental effects on animals and how the farms will appear from the coast. 16A group representing people in New Jersey brought a legal case against BOEM over the plans. It said the large wind farms would reduce the number of visitors to the area, hurting the area's economy and property values. 17How developers design the wind farms will be subject to another intense debate. 18I'm Gregory Stachel. 19Steve Herman reported this story for Voice of America. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional material from Reuters. 20________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22auction - n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most 23lease - n. a legal agreement that lets someone use a car, house, or something else for a period of time in return for payment 24We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.