A whole new frontier opened this week for the global floating wind sector when the US awarded five areas of deepwater Pacific seabed in its first west coast auction.

The winning bidders included some of the biggest names in global offshore wind – the likes of RWE, Ocean Winds, CIP and Equinor, along with the US’s own Invenergy – and the auction was hailed as providing “undeniable momentum” to America’s green agenda. However, as Recharge’s quick-fire analysis of the outcome pointed out, the prices paid were far below those seen at Atlantic tenders earlier this year, a trend apparent after the first day of bidding.

Not to be outdone, the east coast showed it still has plenty of momentum of its own when early pacesetter New Jersey raised the target of its round three offshore wind solicitation to 4GW from 1.2GW.

No wonder Stephanie McClellan, head of new offshore wind body Turn Forward, wrote in Recharge that the sector is “coming to life before our eyes”.

The ongoing sensitivities around wind at sea were also underlined, however, when environmentalists urged caution over deploying turbines off Massachusetts in waters where endangered whales have set up home.

Few can guess what comes next these days in the twists and turns of European energy policy, and the rollercoaster continued this week with ups and downs for renewables across the continent.

In the UK – no stranger to policy convulsions – there were signs of a final end to the “seven-year anomaly” that has seen new onshore wind development severely restricted in England – an announcement that came the same day as energy experts from DNV said Britain needs to tackle ‘nimbyism’ to get its net zero transition back on track.

There was also positive news from Norway, where the government opened consultation over offshore wind tendering and said it hopes the first areas will be awarded next year.

On the downside, Recharge reported fears in the French renewables industry that anti-wind clauses will find their way back into key legislation moving through the nation’s parliament, while Germany’s solar sector was at odds with energy regulators over why an auction flopped.

Talking of Germany, if you read nothing else this weekend catch up with Bernd Radowitz’s analysis of why the nation’s renewables sector is giving a ‘must try harder verdict’ after a year of the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

After coming to power with a pledge to turbocharge the Energiewende, ongoing problems over permitting and the distractions of the Ukraine invasion have left Europe’s biggest economy off target.