It has upto-date quantitative information about the offshore wind energy market, technology, and cost trends in the United States and worldwide. This report includes detailed information on the domestic offshore wind energy industry, providing context to help navigate technical and market barriers and opportunities.
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Congress has debated whether—and, if so, how and to what extent—to promote the development of U.S. offshore wind energy. Some stakeholders seek to further expedite federal offshore wind leasing to assist coastal states in meeting renewable power commitments, facilitate a transition away from fossil fuel energy, and promote employment in the offshore wind sector. Others have expressed concerns that offshore wind leasing may be proceeding too quickly, especially given potential conflicts with other ocean uses.
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The U.S. offshore wind pipeline has an estimated capacity of 52,687 MW, a growth of 15% from May 31, 2022. The 40,083 MW reported in 2022 was revised upward to 45,772 MW due to an increase in the capacity density metric from 3 MW/square kilometer (km2) to 4 MW/km2. U.S. offshore wind energy target was set in March 2021 for 30 GW by 2030 with pathway to 110 GW by 2050.
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Unlike other tenders and auctions so far, companies will pay just 10% of the total fee upfront and spread the remainder over 20 years after commissioning for this tender. This shifts the upfront cost to US$750 million for BP and US$645 million for TTE, or around US$0.2m/MW. That’s not a big increment to capex. The ongoing fee will be US$75-100k/MW. Additionally, the German market has some of the strongest offtake potential in Europe.
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Floating offshore wind turbines are affixed on platforms that are firmly moored to the ocean bed and connected by dynamically suspended cables. As a technology, floating offshore wind (FOW) can be considered supplementary to fixed-seabed wind technology. It deploys fixtures and component configurations that are compatible with conventional systems, including power substations, undersea transmission networks and feed-in infrastructure of the existing grids.
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The Department of the Interior has announced results from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s wind energy auction for five leases offshore California. The lease sale represents the third major offshore wind lease sale this year and the first ever for the Pacific region. The sale drew competitive high bids from 5 companies totaling $757.1 million, well exceeding the first lease sales that were held in the Atlantic.
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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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The US is actively working towards its ambition of achieving 30 GW of offshore wind (OSW) capacity by 2030. The country’s OSW industry, which has been witnessing significant activity, particularly over the last couple of years, is expected to contribute significantly to US’ goal of achieving a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. In fact, the 2030 OSW goal establishes a pathway to deploy 110 GW or more of OSW by 2050.
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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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The Inflation Reduction Act modifies the investment tax credit requirements for offshore wind projects, ties offshore wind leasing to offshore oil and gas leasing while also opening new areas for potential offshore wind development, and appropriates additional funds for the planning and development of interregional electricity transmission and transmission of electricity generated by offshore wind.
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The higher overall 2045 targets for onshore and offshore wind can ensure Vietnam is on track for Net Zero by 2050. This paper outlines the urgent need for a Route to Market process to enable the installation of 7+ GW offshore wind by 2030. In particular, this paper analyses international experience of offshore wind project development timelines and procurement mechanisms to propose an appropriate pathway for Vietnam to meet its PDP 8 targets by 2030.
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The United States’ West Coast has vast, untapped offshore wind resources to help decarbonize the country’s energy system. Offshore wind would diversify generation resources while reducing land-use conflicts in the Western U.S., where 80 percent of customers are served by utilities with net-zero carbon emission mandates. Coastal states make up 57 percent of Western electricity demand.
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Preliminary studies carried out by NIWE across the coastline of India indicate good potential both off the southern tip of the country and the West coast for offshore wind farm development in India. Based on a multi-criteria approach involving assessment of various parameters such as wind resource, bathymetry etc., eight zones each off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu were identified as potential offshore wind energy zones.
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Cbus Super, an Australian superannuation fund, has acquired a 10 per cent stake in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ (CIP) 2.2 GW Star of the South offshore wind project. This follows Cbus’ investment in CIP’s flagship fund, CI IV, which owns the majority stake in Star of the South. No financial details of the deal have been disclosed. Star of the South will be constructed off the coast of Victoria’s Gippsland.
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As the offshore wind industry expands to new and early-stage markets in Asia, the labour requirements call for technical and specialised roles across the entire offshore wind supply chain. Often, those roles are not being fulfilled locally and require transfer of knowledge or experience from more experienced companies, like those in Singapore.
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The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, announced the commencement of the Maritime Area Consent (MAC) Regime. The new regime enables the Minister, on an interim basis, to issue Maritime Area Consents (MACs) to renewable energy developers who meet the relevant assessment criteria. Developers must have a Maritime Area Consent to make an application for permission, to include environmental assessments, to An Bord Pleanála.
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Crown Estate Scotland has announced the outcome of its application process for ScotWind Leasing, the first Scottish offshore wind leasing round in over a decade and the first ever since the management of offshore wind rights were devolved to Scotland. 17 projects have been selected out of a total of 74 applications, and have now been offered option agreements which reserve the rights to specific areas of seabed. A total of just under £700m will be paid by the successful applicants in option fees and passed to the Scottish Government for public spending.
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Alinta Energy, an Australian green energy company, has announced its plans to build a 1,000 MW wind farm 10 kilometres off the coast of Portland, in southwestern Victoria, to serve the Portland Aluminium Smelter and the east coast electricity system. As per the company’s statement, Portland Bay has an excellent wind resource that would be suitable to power offshore wind turbines.
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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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The European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) published a series of papers to assess the possible solutions to help realise the European Commission’s offshore strategy. It evaluated the key areas of system development, system operation, interoperability and market design in which TSOs have an essential and active role in enabling the achievement of the EU offshore goals. Global Transmission Report presents the key highlights of ENTSO-E’s views and recommendations on offshore grid development.
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