The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Grid Deployment and Wind Energy Technologies Offices (GDO and WETO) and the US Department of Interior (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) jointly released ‘An Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region’. It comprises a set of bold actions to catalyse OSW energy and strengthen the domestic supply chain.
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State-level clean energy policies are driving a total project pipeline exceeding 40 GW for the Atlantic Coast region. In 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration announced an inter-agency goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030—which would unlock a pathway to 110 GW by 2050—to strengthen the domestic supply chain, create jobs, and reduce carbon emissions while building toward a clean energy future.
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Last year saw significant strides in North American offshore wind with advancements and incentives introduced at federal and state level in the US, along with Canada announcing its first offshore wind target and auction. Autumn 2022 saw the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia set a target to auction off 5 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030. The US is on the verge of rapid expansion for offshore wind.
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The report emphasises the positive economic effects of OSW on domestic shipbuilding and supply chain, with more than 30 new vessels currently either ordered or under construction to bolster the industry’s operations. It offers critical insights into upcoming OSW projects and the locations of announced manufacturing facilities among other things.
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On March 29, 2023, DOE released ‘Advancing Offshore Wind Energy in the United States, U.S. Department of Energy Strategic Contributions Toward 30 Gigawatts and Beyond’ strategy, which is a comprehensive summary of its role to meet the country’s OSW target. The strategy has divided the OSW efforts by the DOE into four pillars – Near-Term Offshore Wind (NOW), Floating Offshore Wind Accelerated Research and Development (FORWARD), CONNECT and TRANSFORM.
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The national offshore wind energy target of 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 referenced the potential benefits of establishing a domestic supply chain. NREL led the 30 GW by 2030: A Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind in the United States project to create a road map that identifies challenges and solutions to developing a nationally focused offshore wind energy supply chain that has the potential to manufacture all major components domestically by 2030.
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On January 12, 2023, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management within the US Department of Interior released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for its Renewable Energy Modernization Rule. The Modernization Rule updates the first set of BOEM regulations governing offshore wind on the Outer Continental Shelf promulgated in 2009.
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The report “Offshore Wind and Equity: State of the States Report” published by the Clean Energy States Alliance provides an overview of how states with offshore wind potential have begun to include and operationalize principles of equity in their offshore wind policies and related economic development programs. States, local communities, and other stakeholders can use this report to learn about options to incorporate equity provisions into state offshore wind policies and programs.
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Activity in the US offshore wind industry to remain concentrated on the eastern seaboard in the near-term with the first utility-scale projects scheduled for completion in 2023. Newly announced lease areas from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management present growth opportunities on the west coast toward the end of the forecast period, particularly for the floating wind technology segment. In the Gulf of Mexico, BOEM is seeking comments on two potential wind areas off the coast of Texas and Louisiana.
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On June 23, the White House joined with eleven governors from up and down the East Coast to launch a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership that will accelerate the growing offshore wind industry. The partnership will support efforts to provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs, and make historic investments in new American energy supply chains, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and servicing.
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In December 2019, FERC expanded the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), effectively prohibiting offshore wind and other state-supported resources from participating in capacity-market auctions. The rule made it difficult for offshore wind providers to participate in capacity market auctions. Now, to advance the buildout of renewable energy, FERC should “enhance” the expanded MOPR and set a process and timeframe for adopting a new market structure.
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Offshore wind is an energy generation source that has seen explosive global growth over the past decade. The offshore wind industry in the US has been developing at a more measured pace but had a landmark year in 2021, and Mayer Brown experts expect the same for 2022. This year will undoubtedly be an exciting year for offshore wind energy development. It is anticipated that various offshore actions will take place in 2022.
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Secretary of the Interior Department announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will run a wind auction for more than 480,000 acres off the coasts of New York and New Jersey in the New York Bight in February 2022. This marks the first offshore wind lease sale under the Biden-Harris administration. According to the reports, the auction will take place on February 23, 2022 and allow offshore wind developers to bid on six lease areas
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In October 2021, BOEM announced a proposed schedule for seven new lease area auctions across the United States by 2025. This study forecasts the revenue that BOEM could expect to accrue both from the sale of the area leases and the long-term rents and operating fees paid by projects developed in those areas, which necessarily involves estimating the size of the lease areas that will go to auction in the remaining four lease areas.
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When superimposed over the East Coast, the California coastline extends from Maine to North Carolina. The harnessing of its offshore wind resources will be necessary for California to achieve its zero-carbon energy resources supply goal by 2045. There is strong momentum from a policy and planning standpoint to expand the renewable base to other technologies including offshore wind.
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The US has set an ambitious target of achieving 30 GW of offshore wind (OSW) power by 2030 to support energy transition. Given the huge task of building this capacity almost from scratch, the federal government is supporting the sector’s development through several measures. Various states, particularly on the East Coast, have also set individual OSW targets to meet their long-term renewable energy (RE) goals and have engaged in large-scale OSW procurements.
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NextEra Energy Transmission New York Inc, part of US utility group NextEra Energy Inc, has submitted proposals to build the transmission lines that will carry power from offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean to points in New York and Long Island. The ideas were sent in response to the Long Island Offshore Wind Public Policy Transmission Need, which was issued by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO).
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It must be recognized that the US offshore wind industry is at a much earlier stage of development than the European industry. The output from the initial US wind farms will be fully needed for electricity production that displaces fossil fuel generation. Green hydrogen is a key component of Europe’s deep decarbonization strategy for sectors where electrification is technologically unfeasible.
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Data for the first eight months of this year show that wind generation has risen more than 25 percent since 2019 while utility-scale solar generation has jumped 55 percent. Combined, wind and utility-scale solar generation has gone up by 76 million megawatt-hours (MWh)—a 31 percent increase—while coal and gas generation has fallen by 1.6 percent since 2019, reflecting the ongoing transition of electricity markets to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels.
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A new national target of 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, set in March 2021, could help illuminate the potential for future U.S. market growth. As the number of projects in the advanced permitting and approval phases now exceeds 11 GW, the first phase of U.S. development is well underway. However, despite the new national offshore wind energy deployment goal, fluctuating policy support, stakeholder concerns, constrained global supply chains, and land-based grid limitations pose challenges that could potentially temper the industry’s progress.
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