Interior gauging interest in offshore wind development off Massachusetts coast

The Interior Department is trying to determine whether companies are willing to invest in offshore wind development off the coast of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts wants to position itself as a leader in offshore wind development. The state is moving forward with the development of the Cape Wind offshore wind project, which has been mired for years in regulatory delays. If completed on schedule, the project could be the first offshore wind project in the United States. But the project faces continued difficulty in finding a buyer for the electricity it produces.

The Interior Department published a "request for interest" on Tuesday to help on that front.

“The Request for Interest issued by the Obama administration today begins a process that will lead to up to 4,000 megawatts of wind energy installed far off our shores — enough electricity to power approximately 1.7 million households, and enough to take this new U.S. industry from infancy to maturity,” Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said in a statement.

The request for interest, issued by Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), is part of a broader effort by the department to develop offshore wind on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

“The Administration has expressed its commitment to putting our nation on the path to a renewable energy future, and BOEMRE will continue working to fashion an expedited but responsible process for leasing and permitting on the OCS," BOEMRE Administrator Michael Bromwich said in the statement.