The U.S. Interior Department said it planned to auction off nearly 80,000 acres off the coast of Maryland next year for wind energy development. The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management worked with state, local and federal authorities in identifying acreage about 10 miles off the coast for wind energy development. BOEM said it plans to auction off the acreage in two tranches next year. The bureau said the offshore areas could support the commercial development of more than 850 megawatts of wind energy. “The wind energy potential offshore Maryland is significant,” BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau said in a statement Tuesday. More than 100,000 acres off the coast of Virginia were auctioned for $1.6 million for wind energy development in September. A summer lease sale for 164,750 acres off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts secured $3.8 million in bids for […]