RWE Offshore U.S. Gulf has won a bid to develop wind energy in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. They are paying $5.6 million for 102,000 acres about 44 miles from Lake Charles.
“It’s really exciting to have the very first lease sold for Wind in the Gulf of Mexico and certainly excited that Louisiana political leadership on laying down the groundwork for Offshore Wind is paying off,” senior campaign manager for the National Wildlife Federation, Helen Rose Patterson, said.
Two areas designated for wind energy development off the coast of Galveston, Texas did not receive a single bid.
“The enthusiasm that our leadership both in the Governor’s Office and in the Legislature has expressed for offshore wind. I think really made all the difference in getting a developer to feel like they could take that take that first try at a project for the region,” Patterson said.
She also said the next step is for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to approve RWE’s plan for wind energy development.
“We want to see Offshore Wind Energy built quickly in order to address the climate crisis, but also, it is important to make sure especially as we enter a new region that we are really understanding all the implications of that.”
RWE says its Gulf project is expected to come online by the mid-2030s. Once fully developed it’s expected to generate up to 1.24 gigawatts of wind energy.
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