The U.S. Interior Department launched plans on June 8 to assess potential opportunities for offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico while the future of oil and gas development in the region remains in question.

The announcement follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s broader agenda to decarbonize the nation’s economy through clean energy development. Along those lines, the administration is targeting the deployment of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, which is also expected to create thousands of jobs.

“We know that offshore wind development has the potential to create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs across the nation,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement on June 8. “This is an important first step to see what role the Gulf may play in this exciting frontier.”

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish a request of interest on June 11 to gauge interest in offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The request will be focused on the Western and Central Planning Areas offshore Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama, which has had little renewable energy development so far despite being a major hub for oil and gas production.

“The Gulf of Mexico has decades of offshore energy development expertise,” said Mike Celata, regional director of BOEM’s Gulf of Mexico office in New Orleans. “Today’s announcement represents the first step in harnessing that expertise and applying it to the renewable energy sector.”

Renewable energy program, Gulf of Mexico region

Although the primary focus of the request on June 11 is on wind energy development, BOEM said it is also seeking information on other renewable energy technologies. Additionally, BOEM will convene the Gulf of Mexico Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force comprising members representing federal, Tribal, state and local governments from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. The task force will help coordinate planning, solicit feedback, and exchange scientific and process information.

BOEM has leased 1.7 million acres of the OCS for offshore wind development and has 17 commercial leases on the Atlantic coast. In May, the White House also announced that it had identified two areas off the coast of California for offshore wind development, a critical milestone in its aim to expand the industry to Pacific waters.

Earlier this year, Biden signed an executive order stopping the federal leasing program for oil and gas. Since then, the Interior Department has launched a review to determine whether the Biden administration will permanently halt new leases on federal land and water.

Reuters contributed to this article.

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