New acreage available off the coast of Massachusetts will triple the amount available for wind energy development, the U.S. Interior Department said.

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell met with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to announce more than 742,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts will go on the auction block in late January.

"This sale will triple the amount of federal offshore acreage available for commercial-scale wind energy projects, bringing Massachusetts to the forefront of our nation's new energy frontier," Jewell said in a statement Monday.

The federal government estimates that, if fully developed, the acreage could yield as much as 5 gigawatts of wind energy, or enough to meet the annual electricity demands of more than 1.4 million average homes.

Twelve companies were pre-qualified to take part in the Jan. 29 auction, among them, Deepwater Wind.

In mid-November, the company announced fabrication of the components for its Block Island wind farm off the Rhode Island coast should begin next year.

The Rhode Island government signed off on environmental permits for what will become the nation's first offshore wind farm in May.

The federal government said it's awarded seven commercial wind energy leases in Atlantic waters, bringing in more than $14 million in high bids.

Another lease is scheduled for waters off the New Jersey coast later next year. There are no commercial offshore wind farms in operation in U.S. waters.