Government Inches Closer to Approving Floating Wind Farms Off Oregon Coast

Despite strong opposition from local communities, the Department of Interior is set to issue leases to build floating offshore wind farms on the Oregon coast.

Wind turbines generate electricity at the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States, Block Island, near Rhode Island, on July 7, 2022. John Moore/Getty Images

The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on Aug. 13 that it has finalized an environmental assessment of the potential effects of issuing leases to develop two floating offshore wind farms off the Oregon coast.

The assessment concluded that issuing the leases for the wind farms “would have no significant impacts on people or the environment.”