Offshore Wind Could Create 36,000 Jobs in Northeast U.S.

The States of Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island released three reports today, 2 November, setting out the context for offshore wind development in the U.S. Northeast and revealing its potential economic development benefits.

The reports, produced as part of the Roadmap Project for Multi-State Cooperation on Offshore Wind Development, say the region has the potential for offshore wind deployment of between 4GW and 8GW by 2030 and the creation of up to 36,000 jobs.

The three reports released today include Northeast Offshore Wind Regional Market Characterization which identifies the opportunities and challenges that will shape the offshore wind market, U.S. Job Creation in Offshore Wind that quantifies the job impacts of offshore wind development and specifies the types of jobs to be created, and U.S. Jones Act Compliant Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessel Study which examines the functional requirements and costs of constructing purpose-built vessels that would comply with the U.S. Jones Act and meet the needs of the U.S. offshore wind industry.

The states will use the three reports’ findings to identify opportunities for cooperative actions that can contribute to the responsible deployment of offshore wind in the Northeast at a scale necessary to reduce costs and establish a regional supply chain.

The reports were produced for representatives of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, and the Clean Energy States Alliance, as part of the Roadmap Project which is funded in part by a USD 592,683 grant to NYSERDA from the U.S. Department of Energy’s federally administered State Energy Program.

The Regional Market Characterization was produced by a research team led by Sustainable Energy Advantage, LLC and including AWS Truepower, Daymark Energy Advisors, and Meister Consultants Group.

The jobs study was carried out by BVG Associates, an international consultancy with extensive experience tracking the job impacts of the offshore wind industry in Europe.

GustoMSC, an international leader in designing and engineering vessels and equipment for offshore applications, researched and wrote the vessel study.

An Advisory Committee representing a range of energy sector, economic, and environmental expertise reviewed and provided feedback on drafts of the reports.