US Interior Department Halts Offshore Wind Rights Sale in Gulf of Maine to Protect Lobster Habitat and Whales.

The US Interior Department has announced that it will not sell offshore wind rights in the Gulf of Maine’s prime lobster area in an upcoming auction. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has designated roughly 2 million acres in the area, enough to support 32 gigawatts of renewable electricity, which is 40 percent smaller than a draft plan released last year and avoids habitat for the endangered North American right whale. The move is a significant step towards a first auction in the waters later this year and could boost floating wind technology. The agency also launched an environmental assessment of potential offshore wind impacts in the region and is reviewing a proposed 157-turbine wind farm proposed by Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables off the New Jersey coast.