The California State Lands Commission and the ports of Long Beach and Humboldt have formed an agreement to advance floating offshore wind energy development off the California coast through a comprehensive framework founded on coordination and collaboration to facilitate critical port infrastructure upgrades needed to support offshore wind.
The ports of Long Beach and Humboldt are actively developing terminals to assemble wind turbines on floating platforms that would be towed to installation areas 20-30 miles offshore of Humboldt County and Morro Bay. The ports have been identified in the California Energy Commission’s Offshore Wind Strategic Plan as key sites necessary for the successful deployment of floating offshore wind in California.
The State Lands Commission has worked with both ports this past year to structure a visionary partnership that will help bring these projects to fruition while uplifting California Native American tribes and historically underserved communities, protecting the environment, and engaging local communities.
“This important agreement parlays the foundations of offshore wind energy development – environmental protection, equity, public engagement, and the economy – into a partnership that leads the way toward a clean energy future,” says State Controller and Lands Commission Chair Malia M. Cohen.
Each of the collaboration areas in the agreement is essential to bring offshore wind energy to California. The commission and ports will also collaborate to align staging and integration site development with broader offshore wind considerations, such as transmission, power purchasing, workforce development, manufacturing, and other supply chain developments, science and technology innovations, and sea space leasing.
