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Markets Outlook: Business Network for Offshore Wind
National offshore wind target
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Offshore Wind Technologies Market Update has reported that the current U.S. offshore wind energy pipeline grew to an estimated potential generating capacity of 25,824 megawatts (MW), with 21,225 MW under exclusive site control by developers. Major economic developments in the U.S. marketplace were the acquisition of the former US Wind New Jersey project (now known as Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind) by EDF Renewables and Shell New Energies for $215 million, and the December 2018 auctions of three Wind Energy Areas off of Massachusetts for a total of $405 million.
Current status of project pipelines (in MW) in U.S. states
The states continue to drive energy policy and make decisions locally about energy mix, off-takes and planning, and the U.S regional supply chain is starting to come into focus.
New England/Northeast:
• Massachusetts has Vineyard Wind 1, the first U.S. utilityscale project at 800 MW, currently under an expanded environmental review by U.S. BOEM, and just announced a joint venture between Shell New Energy Ventures and Portuguese utility EDPR as the winner of their second 804 MW procurement, securing 1,604 MW of the state’s 3,200 MW goal.
• Connecticut has a 300 MW project under development and will procure up to 2,000 MW before the end of 2019.
• Rhode Island signed a 20-year PPA with Revolution Wind, a 400 MW project, in May 2019. This project could start operations in 2023.
• Maine/New Hampshire/Northern Massachusetts has started a new BOEM Task Force to develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. The University of Maine’s 12 MW Aqua Ventus project could produce electricity by 2023.
Mid-Atlantic:
• New York made headlines with a 9,000 MW by 2035 offshore wind goal, and by awarding two projects to Ørsted and Equinor totalling 1,696 MW. Nearby, Ørsted’s 130MW South Fork wind farm could start construction as early as 2021 and be operational in 2022. BOEM expects to hold an auction for three or four Wind Energy Areas in the New York Bight in 2020. • New Jersey made a big down payment in June 2019 on its 3,500 MW offshore goal by awarding an 1,100 MW project to Ørsted, which remains the largest single awarded offshore wind project in the United States. In November 2019, Governor Murphy signed an executive order increasing New Jersey’s offshore wind goal to 7,500 MW by 2035.
• Maryland is progressing on two projects totalling 368 MW, and set a new state goal of a minimum of 1,200 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030.
South •
Virginia utility Dominion Energy, plans to develop a 2,600 MW offshore wind project. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) 12 MW demonstration project started construction in 2019, and should be completed by 2020.
• North Carolina is planning to launch an offshore wind energy economic study. Under Governor Cooper’s leadership, the state is seeking to develop the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area.
Other
• California is working on three offshore wind call areas. BOEM has stated that it will hold some Wind Energy Area auctions in 2020.
• Ohio is working on the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCO) Icebreaker project, a sixturbine 20.70 MW demonstration project currently in the permitting phase.
Future plans for OSW in the U.S.
The offshore wind industry is ramping up quickly in the U.S., pushed by a requirement to begin construction aided by a national standards and guidelines-setting initiative led by NREL. Ports, assembly areas, and offshore wind industry infrastructure are currently being identified, brought under contract and developed.
For information on joining the Network, see www.offshorewindus.org/about-us/join/.
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