Today, onshore wind power is the most productive renewable energy source in America, generating nearly half of its renewable energy. In 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA),renewable energy sources accounted for about 20.1% of all electricity generated (primarily from wind, solar & hydropower) --of which 9.2.% was from wind, up from 8.4% in 2019 . The growth of wind power has been astonishing – especially when you consider that wind energy only made up 0.2% of U.S. electricity generating capacity in 1990. The U.S. is now investing more in a clean energy transition than any other country in the world except China --which has got us seriously beat.
Offshore wind is well developed in other parts of the world but just getting started in the U.S. Our explosion is about to occur.
The first five turbines, a 30 MW project developed by Deepwater Wind (now owned by Orsted) went live in 2016 providing 100% energy to Block Island with the excess going to Rhode Island’s mainland. Two years later, in 2018, Amory B. Lovins, co-founder and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based nonprofit organization that advises on renewable energy, said, “We could run the whole East Coast on offshore wind.” His words were prescient although we did endure four years of apparent federal inactivity from 2017-2020.
This changed after Biden’s election in 2021 with the administration moving swiftly to announce a goal of 30 GW from offshore wind by 2030.
- In May, 2021, BOEM had approved Vineyard Wind, calling for 84-turbines to be installed in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Together, they have the ability to generate about 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes.
- Also in May, BOEM gave its blessing to two areas off the California coast.
- By October, 2021, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said that her agency will begin to identify, demarcate and hope to eventually lease federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Maine and off the coasts of the Mid-Atlantic States, North Carolina and South Carolina, California and Oregon, to wind power developers by 2025.
- By January, 2022, BOEM’s review of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 15-turbine, 132 MW project southeast off Long Island, with a cable landing in Wainscott, a hamlet within the Town of East Hampton, was complete and approved. Despite a significant amount of litigation, construction is proceeding and Orsid operations are scheduled to begin at the end of 2023 powering 70,000 New York homes.
- In February, 2022, the U.S. netted a record $4.37 billion from the sale of six additional offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. When these turbines are built and operational, the auctioned acres are expected to generate up to 7,000 megawatts, enough to power nearly 2 million homes. The Interior Department has said between that project and others currently under review, it hopes to see some 2,000 turbines churning from Massachusetts to North Carolina by the end of this decade.
- On October 18-19, 2022, the Offshore Wind Power Conference & Exhibition takes place at the convention center in Providence Rhode Island. And, the day before, you can take a boat tour to see America’s first five offshore wind turbines at Block Island.
By Sarah Shemkus 02/01/23
A group of environmental and labor organizations want a state offshore wind advisory committee in its final plan to include more specific language recommending project labor and labor peace agreements. In Maine, coalition works to…
By Alejandro De La Garza 01/24/23
After decades of delay, the push to capture carbon-free offshore wind energy in the U.S. has finally started moving forward in recent years. Construction on the first large-scale commercial offshore wind farm in the U.S.,…
By Sharon Udasin 01/23/23
Fulfilling President Biden’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 would require the rapid scale-up of a domestic supply chain and at least $22.4 billion in infrastructure investments, a new report has…
By Benjamin Storrow 01/19/23
Offshore wind has struggled to take hold in the United States, even as it has expanded in Europe and Asia. But signs of a coming wind boom are mounting here on Cape Cod, where the…
By Nathan Kensinger and Others 01/02/23
Before Chris Maldonado could hire a team to fabricate the colossal steel towers that will hold clean wind energy turbines aloft off the Jersey Shore, he needed to build a worksite big enough for the…
By Matthew Lackner 12/08/22
Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind…
By Jennifer A Dlouhy 12/07/22
The turnout — just a sliver of the 43 developers that had prequalified to bid in a government auction of those coastal leases — signals some industry caution about the scale of the challenge harnessing…
By Tom Gogola 12/07/22
Is that Poseidon’s triton reaching from the littoral shallows, or are you just trying to build a 132-megawatt wind farm? The South Fork Wind project site at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott certainly…
By Stanley Reed 11/27/22
Oil and gas workers, losing their jobs as fossil fuel investment wanes, find work in the wind energy business.
Stanley Reed By Stanley Reed 11/22/22
These should be great times to be in the wind energy business, especially in Europe. Governments here have long promoted offshore wind projects, and those efforts have accelerated since Russia started cutting natural gas shipments…
By Christopher Walsh 11/17/22
The Jill, a 183-foot-long lift boat with jack-up legs of more than 300 feet, arrived at its position off the beach in Wainscott on Tuesday, where it is to remain for approximately three months and…
11/16/22
As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, today the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore the…
06/28/22
BOEM, in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and affected coastal states, will be holding meetings to discuss draft guidance for ways to mitigate impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries…
05/16/22
Application of Deepwater Wind South Fork, LLC for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the Construction of Approximately 3.5 Miles of Submarine Export Cable from the New York State Territorial Waters Boundary…
05/13/22
We own and operate the Block Island Wind Farm, America’s first offshore wind farm, and are the leading developer in the U.S. with ~5,000MW of awarded capacity through seven projects on the East Coast. Our…
05/13/22
South Fork Wind brings unparalleled experience to Long Island. The 132 MW offshore wind farm will address East Hampton's energy needs, producing enough clean energy to power 70,000 homes. When complete, the 12 turbines will…
05/13/22
Offshore wind is America’s next major energy source, representing a generational opportunity to create jobs and bolster the economy. It is an abundant clean energy solution for large population centers looking to source more of…
05/10/22
Long Island is poised to play a central role in the development of offshore wind (OSW) in New York State. Governor Cuomo has set an ambitious goal of 9,000 megawatts from OSW in New York…
By Michael Wright 11/16/22
Engineering crews on Beach Lane in Amagansett have begun the process of drilling a 2,500-foot tunnel beneath Beach Lane, the ocean beach and the seafloor to make way for the... more
By Heather Richards 10/27/22
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved a first-of-its-kind effort Wednesday to grapple with the significant transmission challenges of building large offshore wind farms.
By Simon Flowers 10/20/22
Here’s the existential challenge that oil companies face: building an alternative income stream for the time when oil and gas demand peters out. The new business has to be sustainable, broadly commensurate in scale and…
By David Iaconangelo 10/19/22
The U.S. offshore wind industry could support as many as 58,000 jobs by 2030 if the country hits its renewable deployment goals, according to a new federal report that offers the most detailed assessment yet…
By Don Carrigan 10/13/22
Chris Wissman sat on the Portland waterfront on a foggy morning, sounding both impressed and optimistic about building the country’s first floating offshore wind turbine off the coast of Maine. “Put this next to the…
By Heather McCarron 10/06/22
Following the lead of Vineyard Wind, which is building a wind farm just west of the Nantucket Shoals, Mayflower Wind — a second company looking to harness the winds in the same area — has…
By Matthew Dally and Others 09/16/22
The Biden administration on Thursday announced plans to develop floating platforms in the deep ocean for wind towers that could power millions of homes and vastly expand offshore wind in the United States. The plan…
By Heather Richards 09/09/22
Offshore wind is critical for California to reach its climate goals, witnesses told a House panel Thursday, but a host of factors, including lack of transmission lines and negative impacts on fishing, could complicate its…
By Kelsey Tamborrino 08/29/22
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced Monday it will open public comment on a draft environmental analysis for the proposed Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island.
By Kristi E. Swartz 08/24/22
Dominion Energy Inc. is asking Virginia utility regulators to remove strict consumer protections placed on the company’s proposed offshore wind farm, warning that it will end the multibillion-dollar project if the commission doesn’t change its…
By Michael E. Webber and Others 08/16/22
With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains US$370 billion for climate and energy programs, policy experts are forecasting a big expansion in clean electricity generation. One source that’s poised for growth is offshore…
By Anne C. Mulkern 08/11/22
California energy regulators yesterday approved an aggressive offshore wind goal that sets the stage for a proliferation of turbines along the state's made-for-movies coastline. The California Energy Commission unanimously adopted a report setting offshore wind…
By Angel Adegbesan 08/11/22
California set an ambitious target to develop offshore wind, a key part of the state’s plan to get all its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.
By Robert Walton 08/04/22
Avangrid announced Wednesday that it has finalized an agreement to manage and operate the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 project when it begins operations in 2023. Co-owned with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the project off the coast…
07/29/22
"New York is proud to continue leading the way in offshore wind development while establishing a blueprint for building a locally-based green economy," Hochul said. "Today we are putting words into action and making it…
By Lulia Gheorghiu 07/28/22
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority released its third competitive offshore wind solicitation on Wednesday for a minimum of 2 GW of clean energy, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D, announced. The solicitation includes…
By Michael Doyle 07/14/22
Haaland's appearance before the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee was ostensibly to defend the department's budget request, but she was repeatedly pressed by lawmakers on a host of issues, including the future of the…
By Lulia Gheorghiu 07/14/22
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced plans Wednesday to conduct a regional environmental review of six areas leased for offshore wind development in the New York Bight in February. The leases were issued in…
By Chris Baraniuk 07/01/22
THE MAKERS OF wind turbines have, for many decades now, labored to harness one of the mightiest forces in nature. They’ve moved from onshore to offshore sites, building ever larger rotors with huge blades, each…
By Jon Hurdle 06/24/22
Herbert Thornton has been delivering tires for a living for the last five years but says he’s now ready for a change, and plans to retrain as a welder at a new factory in Paulsboro…
By Matthew Daly 06/23/22
The White House on Thursday launched a formal partnership with 11 East Coast governors to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Biden’s plan for climate change.
06/23/22
The President: I Want To Say To The Press: We Have An Impressive Group Of Governors, Labor Leaders, And Business Leaders In The Room Here, But I’m Not Going To Take The Time To Introduce…
By Brian Bushard 06/23/22
The partnership announced Thursday between the White House and state governors from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina, intends to boost offshore wind energy…
By Tom Gocklen - Kozlowsky 06/21/22
RenewableUK analysis puts China just ahead of UK in terms of the amount of offshore wind capacity currently in development
By Nichola Groom 05/27/22
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed auctioning five areas off the coast of California for offshore wind development, a critical milestone in expanding the nascent U.S. industry to Pacific waters.
By Miranda Wilson 05/26/22
Electric utilities filed long-term plans with the state Department of Public Utilities to procure power from the two projects, which collectively represent the state’s largest offshore wind venture, officials said yesterday. The facilities — Commonwealth…
05/19/22
“The previous Administration stopped work on the new five-year plan in 2018, so there has been a lot to do to catch up. Varying, conflicting litigation has also been a factor. As we take this…
By Heather Richards and Others 05/12/22
The apparent mixed signals underscore the fine line the climate-focused President Joe Biden has tried to walk on his management of the federal oil program — the one arena where a president holds influence over…
By Michael Wright 05/11/22
Wind farm developer Ørsted announced last week that it has reached an agreement with the North American Building Trades Unions, NABTU, to use an all-American union workforce in the construction... more
By Sarah DeWeerdt 05/10/22
“This is much farther than has been considered before when making recommendations about siting wind turbines to avoid such bird concentrations,” says study team member Jeff Buler, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Delaware…
By Sharon Udasin 05/09/22
Approximately 3 gigawatts of offshore wind should be powering the state’s grid by 2030 — enough to power about 3 million average homes in the state, the California Energy Commission determined.
By Wayne Parry 04/28/22
Orsted, the Danish wind power developer, signed an agreement Thursday with New Jersey officials to use a state-financed manufacturing port to build the components of the state's first offshore wind farm. Gov. Phil Murphy announced…
By Lulia Gheorghiu 04/28/22
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is evaluating the potential for new offshore wind leasing areas on the Central Atlantic and Pacific coasts, agency director Amanda Lefton said at the International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum…
By John Engel 04/27/22
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said it plans to issue two Calls for Information and Nominations on April 29, a move seen as crucial in developing projects in the federal waters.
By Elizabeth Royte 04/22/22
Block Island, 15 miles off the coast at its farthest point, has always been at the mercy of the four winds. Raging winter gusts have been known to rip porches off houses and knock stones…
By Teresa R. Christopher & Others 03/14/22
In April 2021, the United States set an ambitious climate target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, a 100 percent carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, and a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas…
By Lisa Friedman 02/25/22
The United States government netted a record $4.37 billion on Friday from the sale of six offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, a major step in the Biden administration’s…
By Emma Newburger 02/25/22
The federal government on Friday announced a record $4.37 billion sale of six offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, moving forward the Biden administration’s goal to transition from fossil…
02/11/22
Governor Kathy Hochul today, alongside United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and other elected officials, celebrated the start of construction of South Fork Wind, New York's first offshore wind project, jointly developed by…
By Alex Brown 02/07/22
The United States currently produces almost no electricity from wind farms in ocean waters. That’s about to change—fast. State leaders have spent years laying the groundwork: requiring their utilities to purchase set amounts of offshore…
01/19/22
South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore wind farm, has received approval of the project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which is…
By Mary Serreze 11/26/21
The Ørsted/Eversource project will power New York homes, but the turbine foundations are being fabricated in Rhode Island.
By Dino Grandoni 11/24/21
President Biden’s administration greenlit a major offshore wind project to supply power to New York, arriving as part of a broader push to build out renewable energy and tackle climate change.
By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman 10/13/21
Construction on the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is expected to begin this summer, after the Biden administration gave final approval Tuesday to a project it hopes will herald a new era of wind…
By Coral Davenport 10/13/21
The notion of wind farms churning in the Pacific Ocean, creating clean energy to power homes and businesses, has long been dismissed because of logistical challenges posed by a deep ocean floor and opposition from…
By Coral Davenport 10/13/21
The Biden administration announced on Wednesday a plan to develop large-scale wind farms along nearly the entire coastline of the United States, the first long-term strategy from the government to produce electricity from offshore turbines.
By Georgena Terry 06/21/21
In late March, President Joe Biden announced an offshore wind goal of 30 GW by 2030 in a manner that protects environmental assets and creates employment. Through a coordinated multi-agency approach, Biden plans to fast…
By Lisa Friedman 06/11/21
The Biden administration on Friday announced that it would begin the formal process of selling leases to develop offshore wind farms in shallow waters between Long Island and New Jersey as part of its push…
By Ivan Penn 06/07/21
A constellation of 5,400 offshore wind turbines meet a growing portion of Europe’s energy needs. The United States has exactly seven. The U.S. has fallen way behind Europe partly because of an old shipping law…
By Coral Davenport 05/26/21
The offshore wind industry has boomed in parts of the world, particularly near the coasts of Norway and the United Kingdom, but not off the West Coast of the United States. This week, the Biden…
