U.S. Offshore Wind Pipeline Tops 24GW

As of June 2017, the U.S. offshore wind project development pipeline includes 24,135MW of potential installed capacity, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The U.S. offshore wind project pipeline includes 28 projects that are under construction, at financial close, approved, permits submitted, and undergoing planning, NREL said in the 2016 Offshore Wind Technologies Market Report.

Most of the near-term activity is concentrated in the Atlantic off the Northeast coast, but projects have been proposed in the Southeast Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes.

Of the U.S. projects in deeper waters, where traditional bottom-mounted technologies are not feasible, proposed floating offshore wind projects now total 1,993 MW of announced capacity, according to the report.

News of the declining costs for offshore wind projects in Europe spurred confidence in the domestic U.S. offshore wind market over the past year, the report states.

Several states including Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland have enacted new policy or bolstered their existing policy to support the development of over 4,000MW of offshore wind.