The federal government is preparing to sell offshore wind power plots in the Gulf of Maine after determining that leasing the area would not harm the environment.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said that installing buoys and conducting surveys to assess leases across one million acres of ocean would have no significant environmental impact.
The actual installation of offshore turbines would require separate environmental reviews, according to the bureau.
But the report opens the door to a sale by the end of the year for eight lease areas off Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The agency said the areas could produce enough energy to power 5 million homes.
In a statement, bureau director Elizabeth Klein said it is committed to developing wind power “in a manner that reduces potential impacts on other ocean activities and the surrounding ecosystem.”
The state of Maine has already leased a small parcel in the Gulf to test floating wind turbines.
