Offshore Wind Turbines
Wind turbines are seen off the coast of southern England. The U.S. still doesn't have a single commercial-scale wind turbine in its waters. Reuters

The U.S. Department of the Interior, or DOI, announced the nation’s second offshore wind energy lease sale off the coast of Virginia, the DOI said in a press release Monday.

“The competitive lease sale offshore Virginia will mark an important transition from planning to action when it comes to capturing the enormous clean energy potential offered by Atlantic wind,” Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said. “Responsible commercial wind energy development has the potential to create jobs, increase our energy security and strengthen our nation’s competitiveness.”

Jewell said that the plans to develop wind energy were part of President Barak Obama’s comprehensive plan of developing domestic clean energy sources.

The area is located 23.5 nautical miles from the Virginia Beach coastline and has the potential to support more than 2,000 megawatts of wind generation, which is enough electricity to power around 700,000 homes, according to the DOI.

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