On March 16th, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) offers the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area (WEA) in a commercial lease sale. This will be the first WEA lease for North Carolina and the second in the region after BOEM executed a wind energy research lease with Virginia's Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy in 2015. 

The Kitty Hawk WEA is 122,405 acres and 24 nautical miles from shore at its closest point. To date, BOEM has held six competitive auctions, generating over $58 million in revenue to the federal government, in exchange for leases covering over 1 million acres. 

The American offshore wind power industry is making a multi-billion dollar investment, generating hundreds of thousands of high-skilled jobs, and building infrastructure to provide clean energy. The North Carolina auction is the latest step in the permitting and leasing momentum over the last 12 years. 

"Tomorrow's auction serves as a major milestone for both the state and the region," said Katharine Kollins, President of the Southeastern Wind Coalition. "This auction builds on industry steps taken along the East Coast and is the result of a five-year, nonpartisan process that involved 13 public meetings. This auction has attracted major international companies and the resulting project will provide a huge boost to North Carolina's economy, especially in the coastal communities." 

BOEM has identified nine qualified companies eligible for the lease sale, although some have indicated they will not participate. The identified qualified companies are: 

* Avangrid Renewables, LLC 

* Enbridge Holdings (Green Energy) LLC 

* Shell WindEnergy Inc. 

* Northland Power America Inc. 

* Wind Future LLC 

* Outer Banks Ocean Energy, LLC 

* PNE Wind USA, Inc. 

* Statoil Wind US LLC 

* wpd offshore Alpha LLC

Southeastern Wind Coalition | www.sewind.org