Wind is blowing towards renewable energy in oil-rich Gulf of Mexico

Wind is blowing towards renewable energy in oil-rich Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico has for decades been a sea of hulking oil platforms. The Biden administration now wants to plant wind turbines there.

This week the US interior department called on companies to express interest in leasing in a 30m-acre area in waters off Louisiana and Texas, part of a push to build 30 gigawatts of carbon-free offshore wind power up and down the US coastline by 2030.

It would be a radically new look for the gulf, where offshore oil wells date to the 1930s and now account for 15 per cent of US oil production. As in the North Sea in Europe, new spending on wind could offset declining investment in oil megaprojects.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management contends that the oil and gas industry “will most likely lead the way,” noting that some oil majors — all of them based in Europe — have set goals of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. TotalEnergies of France and Royal Dutch Shell are among those that have shown early interest in a potential bidding round for wind development rights.

John Bel Edwards, the Democratic governor of Louisiana, has said his state’s long experience in oil and gas gave it “a