Central Atlantic

draft WEA Primary Secondary map
Draft WEAs Map
Draft WEAs Nautical Chart Map
Draft WEAs Shapefiles

What's New?

On Nov. 16, 2022, BOEM announced eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Central Atlantic for public review and comment. The draft WEAs are in federal waters offshore North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. They cover approximately 1.7 million acres. Their closest points range from approximately 19 to 77 nautical miles off the Central Atlantic coast. The following documents are available in support of this announcement:

The eight draft WEAs represent a subset of the original 3.9 million acres of the Call Area that the Department of the Interior announced for public comment in April 2022.  

The final WEAs may be further reduced after incorporating feedback from government partners, ocean users and stakeholders. BOEM acknowledges that there may be potential conflicts and is seeking comment on them, including a potential U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) safety fairway for vessels, commercial fishing, a NASA danger zone, and marine habitat areas.

BOEM intends to further explore these areas with the Department of Defense, USCG, NASA, and other ocean users, such as the fishing industry, to collect additional information that should be considered before finalizing the WEAs.

The next step in BOEM’s renewable energy leasing process is a 30-day public comment period starting November 16, 2022. During the comment period, BOEM will hold two virtual meetings to engage the fishing community and environmental organizations to gather more information on the draft WEAs and discuss next steps. These meetings will be open to the public and will be held on the following dates and times: 

To comment, please go to regulations.gov and search for docket no. BOEM-2022-0072. BOEM will accept comments from Nov. 16, 2022 through 11:59 pm ET on December 16, 2022.

Public Engagement

BOEM coordinates Outer Continental Shelf renewable energy activities in the Central Atlantic with its federal, state, local, and tribal government partners through an intergovernmental renewable energy task force. To obtain information discussed during these and other meetings opened to the public, please click on the links below. 

Related Press Releases

Call for Information and Nominations 

On April 27, 2022, BOEM announced the publication of a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to assess commercial interest in -- and obtain public input on -- potential wind energy leasing activities in federal waters of the Central Atlantic. The publication can be found in the Federal Register:

The 60-day public comment period closed on June 28, 2022 and comments can be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/document/BOEM-2022-0023-0001/comment.  

As part of the Biden-Harris administration's goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on April 27, 2022, that it will publish a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to assess commercial interest in -- and obtain public input on -- potential wind energy leasing activities in federal waters of the Central Atlantic.

The Call Area is located offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia and the States of Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina and comprises areas A-F.  These six areas include 496 whole OCS blocks and 298 partial blocks and comprise approximately 3,897,388 acres (1,577,217 hectares). 

  • Call Area A: The boundary of Call Area A begins approximately 20 nautical miles (nmi) offshore of Delaware and Maryland and extends eastward to the Sea Scallop Rotational Area and the proposed USCG’s Port Access Route Studies (PARS) fairways.  The area at its widest points is about 12 nmi from east to west and about 29 nmi from north to south.  Call Area A does not include the Del-Jersey artificial reef and comprises approximately 235,222 acres (95,191 hectares).
     
  • Call Area B: The boundary of Call Area B begins approximately 21 nmi offshore of Maryland and Virginia and extends eastward to the 60-meter bathymetric contour and the proposed PARS fairways.  The area at its widest points is about 14 nmi from east to west and about 69 nmi from north to south.  Call Area B comprises approximately 652,218 acres (263,943 hectares).
     
  • Call Area C: The boundary of Call Area C begins approximately 35 nmi offshore of Virginia and extends eastward to the 60-meter bathymetric contour.  The area is about 21 nmi from east to west and about 10 nmi from north to south.  Call Area C comprises approximately 183,907 acres (74,425 hectares).
     
  • Call Area D: The boundary of Call Area D begins approximately 24 nmi offshore of Virginia and North Carolina and extends eastward to the 60-meter bathymetric contour.  The area at its widest points is about 28 nmi from east to west and about 40 nmi from north to south.  Call Area D comprises approximately 442,553 acres (179,095 hectares).
     
  • Call Area E: The boundary of Call Area E begins approximately 56 nmi offshore of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia and extends eastward to between the 2,500 and 2,600-meter bathymetric contour.  The area at its widest points is about 35 nmi from east to west and about 84 nmi from north to south.  Call Area E comprises is approximately 1.6 million acres (655,590 hectares).
     
  • Call Area F: The boundary of Call Area F begins approximately 44 nmi offshore of Virginia and North Carolina and extends eastward to between the 2,500 and 2,600-meter bathymetric contour.  The area at its widest points is about 20 nmi from east to west and about 66 nmi from north to south.  Call Area F comprises approximately 763,491 acres (308,974 hectares).

In response to the Call, BOEM received nominations of areas of interest from 3 developers. Each of the parties listed below has been legally, technically and financially qualified.