(REUTERS): The Biden administration unveiled a goal to expand the US offshore wind power industry in the coming decade by opening new areas to development, accelerating permits, and boosting public financing for projects.
The plan is part of US President Joe Biden’s broader effort to eliminate US greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change and to create new union jobs under a transition to a clean energy economy while protecting the environment.
The announcement came after Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leasing auctions on federal lands and waters. The White House set a new target to deploy enough offshore windmills to power millions of American homes — 30 gigawatts — by 2030.
To accomplish that goal, the Interior Department will create a New Wind Energy Area offshore between Long Island and the New Jersey coast, where the administration will lease space, according to a statement.
The Interior Department also announced it would move ahead with a key environmental review needed to proceed with permitting for Ocean Wind, a major project planned off the coast of New Jersey, which would be the third commercial offshore wind project for the US.
The White house, in this regard, said hitting their new target would directly employ more than 44,000 people, with tens of thousands more jobs created by increased economic activity in nearby communities.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the approach to offshore wind in the past has looked like a chicken with its head cut off. “It is a new day under the Biden administration,” Granholm added.
One of the first steps will be to open a new offshore wind energy development zone in the New York Bight, an area off the densely populated coast between Long Island, New York and New Jersey, with a lease auction there later this year.
The administration said it will also aim to speed up project permits, including environmental reviews, and provide $3 billion in public financing for offshore wind projects through the Department of Energy.
