Offshore Wind trends in the US

The US government announced on the 29th of March an acceleration of offshore wind projects and increased funding for renewable energy. The goal is to develop 30,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity in the next decade, which would create up to 80,000 new jobs.

Attempts to build large scale wind farms comparable to those in Europe have so far been delayed, partially because of a lack of domestic wind farm installation vessels to build offshore wind farms. At present the US has just 7 operating wind turbines located at Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island (5 turbines producing 30MW) and two turbines at the 12MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced new Wind Energy Areas (WEA) in the New York Bight between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. At present BOEM has 16 active commercial wind energy leases off the Atlantic coast.

The east coast of the US is best suited for offshore wind farms due to consistent wind speeds and the extensive coastal shallow waters plus the proximity to numerous large cities looking for renewable energy.

In addition, on the 11th of May the White House approved the construction and operation of the 804MW Vineyard Wind offshore renewables project off the coast of Massachusetts. This will be the first major offshore wind project in US waters and should generate 3600 jobs in the local area.

Vineyard Wind located 12 nautical miles from Nantucket will add 84 turbines to the 7 already in operation offshore. The Biden-Harris administration hopes the US will be generating 30GW of energy from offshore wind by 2030.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to provide general information and not to provide advice or guidance in relation to particular circumstances. Readers should not make decisions in reliance on any statement or opinion contained in this blog.

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