The US is gearing up the pace of leasing out vast swathes of its federal waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore wind power projects, with the approval of 16 lead-off developments totalling some 12GW of capacity now in the frame by mid-decade.

Earlier this month, New York state announced an auction in the New York Bight that alone will expand the acreage being marked off for construction of wind plant at sea by as much as 7GW, securing a record 25 bidders from a wide range of industries into what is fast shaping into a multi-billion-dollar market in the region.