California Assembly Bill 525 – a piece of legislation aimed at boosting the state’s offshore wind production and developing a plan for California to achieve large-scale renewable wind energy by 2045 – has moved through the California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and now goes to the Senate Natural Resources Committee this month.
The bill had already passed through the requisite California State Assembly committees this spring.
AB 525, which was authored by Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, would direct the California Energy Commission (CEC) to create a strategic plan to put offshore wind in place along the California coast and to set gigawatt targets for offshore wind production for years 2030 and 2045.
The strategic plan would also map out near-term infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate offshore wind facilities.
Chiu’s office notes if the total technical potential for offshore wind capacity along the California coast were built out, the state could see approximately 112 GW of new clean energy. Those turbines would need to be placed 20 to 30 miles offshore, in federal waters, and almost certainly on floating structures.
