ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday announced plans to open two new areas to offshore wind, one in the Central Atlantic and the other off of Oregon.

Central Atlantic call areas | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

BOEM Director Amanda Lefton announced the calls for information and nominations at the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s International Partnering Forum, where about 2,700 members of the nascent industry gathered for several days of networking at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

The calls initiate comment periods through June 28 on “site conditions, marine resources and ocean uses” regarding the regions and invite OSW developers to nominate specific areas they would like offered for leasing.

BOEM is looking at six areas totaling almost 3.9 million acres in the Central Atlantic, all at least 20 nautical miles off the coast, and two areas totaling almost 1.2 million acres off of Oregon. The Coos Bay Call Area and the Brookings Call Area are 12 nautical miles from shore at their closest points.

The areas already leased in the Atlantic are all in relatively shallow water on the continental shelf, allowing fixed foundation turbines. Two of the six Central Atlantic call areas would be in deeper water off of the shelf. That location, and the Pacific sites BOEM is considering, would require use of floating turbines.

“Opening new lease areas in the Central Atlantic will spark a second wave of domestic offshore wind development and bolster an emerging manufacturing core in places like Hampton Roads and Baltimore, and in Oregon, where the power of offshore wind can be unleashed along on the West Coast,” said Liz Burdock, CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

The Biden administration has set a goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. In February, six companies offered almost $4.4 billion for leases representing 5.6 GW of offshore wind capacity in the New York Bight. (See Fierce Bidding Pushes NY Bight Auction to $4.37 Billion.)