US Finalizes Two Offshore Wind Energy Areas in Oregon

February 13, 2024

BOEM has designated two final Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the Oregon coast, the Coos Bay WEA is 61,204 acres and located approximately 32 miles (mi) from shore. The Brookings WEA is 133,808 acres and approximately 18 mi off the coast. If fully developed, the Final WEAs could support 2.4 GW of energy production. (Image: BOEM)

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday finalized two wind energy areas (WEAs) in the offshore Oregon region, aligning with government goals to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power along U.S. coastlines this decade to fight climate change.

The two WEAs, Coos Bay WEA and Brookings WEA, are spread across 195,012 acres (78,919 hectares) and "the department continues to take steps to evolve its approach to offshore wind to drive towards union-built projects and a domestic-based supply chain," said the agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"BOEM is exploring additional opportunities for offshore wind energy development in the U.S., including in the Gulf of Maine and the U.S. Central Atlantic coast."

Progress to develop the U.S. offshore wind industry slowed in 2023 after offshore developers canceled contracts to sell power in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey, and threatened to cancel agreements in other states, as soaring inflation, interest rate hikes and supply chain problems increased project costs.

Earlier this month, Avangrid and Amazon said they expanded their U.S. partnership with 98.4 megawatt wind project to source renewable energy from Avangrid wind farm located in Gilliam County, Oregon.

At least 100,000 customers in Oregon were left without electricity during severe winter storms in early 2024.

(Reuters - Reporting by Daksh Grover; Editing by Marguerita Choy)