The Biden administration will hold the nation’s first-ever lease auction for commercial-scale floating wind energy leases today. The five deep-water lease tracts in two areas about 25 miles off the California coast have the potential to generate 4.5 GW of electricity, enough to power 1.5 million homes. Global interest in the lease sales is strong with 43 companies approved to bid. The cost of offshore wind has fallen in recent years and floating offshore wind, though new to the U.S., has been deployed in Europe. The Biden administration has set goals of 15 GW of floating OSW capacity by 2035. (AP, Forbes, CalMatters)