By Sunday, the gavel will have come down on two key US offshore wind power auctions, in Maryland and Massachusetts, that will add up to 2.8GW to an already swelling sector project development pipeline and cap a year of historic progress in the rapidly emerging Atlantic seaboard play.

The allocations to be awarded via the two tenders – Massachusetts is announcing results on 17 December, Maryland the next day – are crucial to reaching both state and national goals as well as for wider industrial and economic development, with vast sums pledged for investment in ports and supply chains, contingent on coming capacity awards.