On Monday, the White House hosted the Summit on Offshore Wind, a gathering of federal, state and industry stakeholders committed to the long-term and sustainable development of offshore wind in the U.S.
In concert with the summit, the White House announced the establishment of an Interagency Working Group on Offshore Wind, which will aim to ensure effective coordination among federal agencies working on growing the industry. The White House Council on Environmental Quality and Domestic Policy Council will co-chair the working group, with participation from a slew of agencies.
The White House also says the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding a multistate project with New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to produce a regional road map for offshore wind. The road map will lay out a cooperative path to develop offshore wind at the large-scale level of deployment needed to achieve economies of scale and establish a regional supply chain with high-quality local jobs, the White House adds.
Furthermore, the White House says the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has begun discussions with offshore wind regulators in the U.K., Denmark and Germany regarding the establishment of an International Offshore Wind Regulators Forum. BOEM aims to establish a multilateral group to discuss ways to responsibly expand offshore wind in the U.S. and around the globe. The group will focus on sharing lessons learned, discussing regulatory approaches and best practices, and exchanging scientific and environmental information.
The White House says the DOE and DOI are also working together to deliver an updated national offshore wind strategy in 2016 to include market and technological changes since the strategy was first released in 2011. Informed by stakeholder input and building on the DOE's Wind Vision Report, the updated strategy will also outline potential initiatives to be implemented over the next five years that will help support the expansion of the offshore wind industry in the U.S.
