The Biden-Harris administration recently canceled an offshore wind energy project slated for the Gulf Coast area.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the project was part of a larger plan to turn 730,000 aquatic acres into a power system that would have produced 30 gigawatts annually by 2030.
Issues arose when the project, known as GOM WEA Option M, only received one bidder from RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC, while its Galveston-based sister projects, collectively known as GOM WEA Option I, received no bidders. Federal agencies were unsatisfied with the lack of competitive bidding on the project.
“As a result, BOEM is canceling this sale due to a lack of competitive interest. BOEM may decide to move forward with a lease sale at a future time, based on industry interest,” the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said late last week, according to offshoreWIND.biz.
The Dallas Express recently published a multipart investigation identifying the project’s fiscal backing and potential to cause damage to East Texas’ key industries and environment.
The major fiscal backing came from Qatar Holding and BlackRock. BlackRock has long pursued an aggressive environmental, social, and governance investment agenda that has drawn the attention of Texas lawmakers for discriminating against Texas oil and gas producers.
The potential environmental damage comes from chemical risks from the resin that binds the turbine blades. This chemical solution reportedly comprises at least three toxic chemicals, PFAS, BPA, and Epichlorohydrin.
Additionally, the recent mysterious destruction of the Vineyard Wind Project off the coast of Nantucket has raised questions about the risks these chemicals present to fish stocks and the environment if a damaged blade plummets into the water or erosion sheds the resin into the ecosystem.
