Offshore Wind California (OWC), the organizer of this week’s Pacific Offshore Wind Summit in Sacramento, says speakers at the summit have focused on the importance of the state proceeding with essential next steps related to investing in transmission and ports, procuring at scale and developing a permitting roadmap.
Last August, the California Energy Commission adopted ambitious offshore wind planning goals, as directed by the state’s AB 525 law, to generate up to 5 GW by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. In December, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a first-ever federal auction for California offshore wind, which identified five provisional leaseholders to develop an initial 5 GW to 7 GW at Morro Bay and Humboldt off the state’s central and north coasts.
“2022 was California’s year to go big on setting offshore wind goals – 2023 is the year we begin to implement them,” said David Hochschild, CEC chairman. “Offshore wind is a foundational element of California’s clean-energy future. We’re going to build that future together – a future where the clean-energy economy regenerates our local communities and our world.”
“There’s no doubt that California is committed to going big on offshore wind,” said Liz Klein, director of BOEM, to more than 700 federal and state officials, industry leaders and other stakeholders at the summit. “The lease sale off the coast of California was our first to support floating wind, but we’re working hard to make sure it won’t be our last. The U.S. has a real opportunity to be the global leader on floating offshore wind, and the Pacific can help lead the way.”
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates California’s technical offshore wind potential at 200 GW, with more than 25 GW in BOEM’s two lease areas and two wind study areas. Deeper West Coast waters require floating technologies that are already being deployed in other world markets. Reports show that developing 25 GW of California offshore wind will support tens of thousands of jobs, supply up to 15-20% of the state’s planned new clean energy, save ratepayers billions of dollars, and generate enough competitively priced electricity to power up to 25 million homes.
Economies of scale and responsible development of offshore wind are essential for California to reach its climate, clean-energy, and grid-reliability goals, while also creating jobs and protecting coastal resources. The 2021 joint agency report found that to reach 100% clean energy, California will need a diverse portfolio including offshore wind, which if deployed at scale will complement other renewables and save ratepayers $1 billion or more in installed clean power capacity.
Offshore Wind California’s board member companies include BP, Equinor, Hexicon, Magellan Wind, Ørsted, Pacific Ocean Energy Trust, Principle Power, RWE, Shell and SSE Renewables.
