Offshore Wind Energy Planning Areas and Lease Blocks

BOEM investigations for new offshore wind energy development areas are represented as lease blocks and sub-blocks. The dataset was published by the U.S. Department of the Interior and was last updated in April 2026. It includes a rescinded planning layer from July 30, 2025.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial distribution of lease blocks to identify potential wind farm development zones.
• Compare rescinded planning areas from July 2025 with current investigations for policy impact studies.
• Integrate lease block geometries with oceanographic data for environmental suitability modeling.
• Use sub-block delineations for detailed capacity and resource assessment within larger planning areas.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
• Available in multiple geospatial formats including GeoJSON, KML, and GPKG for tool flexibility.

Limitations

• Key planning areas were rescinded in July 2025, limiting current applicability.
• Specific row counts, column details, and total geographic extent are not provided.

Provenance

Source

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), U.S. Department of the Interior.

Collection Method

null

Time Range

Reflects investigations and a rescission as of July 30, 2025.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated April 2026, but core planning data reflects a 2025 rescission.

Geography

U.S. offshore waters under BOEM jurisdiction.