US Clears Way for Offshore Wind Farm Development
lease in its Atlantic coastal areas to help speed up development. The move would allow for greater study of wind, waves and wildlife in a 130-square-mile set aside for wind development. The announcement by U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was welcomed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, energy companies and proponents of clean energy, reports Associated Press. Bidding is expected later this year by up to 10 energy companies interested in building wind farms in the federally designated leasing area 27 miles off Virginia Beach. The companies include Energy Management Inc.
US Offshore Wind Survey Contract for Fugro Atlantic
for the Virginia Wind Energy Area for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The survey area covers over 45,000ha in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf and is seen to be a key step forward in developing offshore energy supplies in the region. In awarding the contract, Commonwealth of Virginia governor Bob McDonnell said: “[This is] a positive move forward toward the development of offshore wind energy, an important and promising component of my plan to develop all of the commonwealth’s domestic energy from local resources to make Virginia the ‘Energy Capital of the East Coast’.&rdquo