BOEM kickstarts Gulf of Mexico offshore wind drive

The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will host its first Gulf of Mexico task force meeting next week to discuss offshore wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The task force is a non-decisional intergovernmental group created to coordinate federal, state, local and tribal governments on the leasing process for wind energy, share information on marine conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, and provide updates on offshore wind goals.

The American Clean Power Association (ACP) welcomed the initiative. “While the Gulf of Mexico has a long history of oil and gas development, this announcement signals new job opportunities for the region, while also helping to meet our nation’s objective of deploying 30GW of offshore wind by the end of this decade,” said ACP chief executive Heather Zichal.

The Gulf of Mexico benefits from shallow waters and strong wind resources, especially off the Texas and Louisiana coasts. It has long been considered an attractive location for potential offshore wind development.