The Energy Department has announced seven offshore wind awards for projects in Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia. As part of the Energy Department’s broader efforts to launch an offshore wind industry in the United States, these engineering, design, and deployment projects will support innovative offshore installations in state and federal waters for commercial operation by 2017.
In the initial phase, each project will receive up to $4 million to complete the engineering, design and permitting phase of this award. The Department will select up to three of these projects for follow-on phases that focus on siting, construction, and installation and aim to achieve commercial operation by 2017. These projects will receive up to $47 million over four years, subject to congressional appropriations.
The seven projects selected for the first phase of this six-year initiative include:
Offshore wind represents a large, untapped energy resource for the United States, offering over 4,000 gigawatts of clean, domestic electricity potential—four times the nation’s current total generation capacity. According to a new report commissioned by the Energy Department, a U.S. offshore wind industry that takes advantage of this abundant domestic resource could support up to 200,000 manufacturing, construction, operation, and supply chain jobs across the country and drive over $70 billion in annual investments by 2030. Offshore wind represents an economic and energy opportunity that could mirror the success of land-based wind development.
The Energy Department’s efforts to advance innovative offshore wind technologies support the Obama Administration’s comprehensive National Offshore Wind Strategyto develop a sustainable, world-class offshore wind industry. As part of that strategy, the Energy Department continues to work with partners across the government, including the Department of the Interior, to conduct resource assessments, streamline siting and permitting, and overcome technical and market challenges to installation, operations, and grid interconnection.
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Press release, December 13, 2012; Image: BARD Offshore