On Tuesday, the US Department of the Interior proposed the sale of leases for the construction of floating offshore wind projects off the states of Maine and Oregon with a total capacity of 18 GW.

President Joe Biden’s administration has set a goal of establishing 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035, but Tuesday’s move is expected to face strong opposition from local Native Americans and local fishermen.

Recharge News reports that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will auction off six leases totalling 1 million acres off Maine with a potential capacity of 15 GW, while two other leases off Oregon totalling almost 195,000 acres with a potential capacity of 3 GW will also be up for grabs.

All of the areas are in deep water and will therefore require floating offshore wind turbines.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Catherine Brett)