A federal agency this week provisionally awarded the rights to plan two wind farms off Southeastern North Carolina’s coast to two companies that offered $315 million.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s auction happened Wednesday for two lease areas in the Wilmington East Wind Energy Area, totaling nearly 110,100 acres. One lease provisionally sold for $160 million to TotalEnergies Renewables USA, and the other lease went for $155 million to Duke Energy Renewables Wind.

If developed, the areas could generate up to 1.3 gigawatts, enough to power half a million homes, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

In February, BOEM tentatively awarded six leases at New York Bight, luring the highest offshore lease bids on record, with the companies bidding a combined $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres, or roughly $8,900 an acre.

Joining Thursday’s BizTalk to discuss the leases and what happens next was Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for renewable wind energy.

View the full BizTalk conversation below. Also listen to this and future weekly WilmingtonBiz Talk discussions on the Business Journal's podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.