Offshore wind on the Pacific coast
Planning and development of offshore wind (OSW) energy generation in United States waters has accelerated greatly as a result of Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, issued January 27, 2021, and a related Administration action to deploy 30 Gigawatts of OSW energy by 2030. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the lead Federal agency responsible for offshore energy exploration and development in the U.S. and has embarked on an ambitious effort to identify areas suitable for OSW development, and to auction off the rights to develop specific areas. The Council has engaged closely with BOEM to identify and minimize any potential impacts to fishing activities, habitats (including essential fish habitat), and coastal communities. On the West Coast, BOEM has identified potential OSW areas off California and Oregon.
Offshore wind
Correspondence
- August 2022 letter to BOEM on California Proposed Sale Notice
- July 2022 letter to NMFS on NOAA Aquaculture Opportunity Areas
- July 2022 letter to USCG from DeFazio and Graves re: USCG perceived lack of involvement in BOEM activities
- June 2022 letter to BOEM from DeFazio and Wyden re: Oregon Call Areas
- June 2022 letter to BOEM from DeFazio, et al
- May 2022 letter to BOEM on Morro Bay Wind Energy Area draft Environmental Assessment
- February 2022 Letter to Humboldt County Planning Department on Nordic Aquafarms California, LLC
- February 2022 letter to BOEM on Humboldt Wind Energy Area
- January 2022 letter to BOEM on Morro Bay Wind Energy Area
- January 2022 Letter to BOEM on Offshore Wind Fisheries Mitigation Guidance
Upcoming events
(not hosted by the Council)
- BOEM issues Proposed Sale Notice for commercial wind energy leasing off California
- BOEM Standardizes Process for Environmental Reviews of Offshore Wind Construction and Operations Plans
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Scripps Institution of Oceanography are launching a series of lunch-and-learn seminars to highlight ocean, energy, and climate technology research and development. The first webinar, “Hybrid and Hydrogen Research Vessels”, will take place on 3 November 2022 from 12:00-1:00pm PDT (7:00-8:00pm UTC). Register here.
- The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Offshore Wind team is hosting a webinar, “Learning from the Experts: Movement Models & Offshore Wind”, on 9 November 2022 from 11:00am-12:00pm EST (4:00-5:00pm UTC). Register here.
- BOEM will host a mock auction on December 5th and the live auction on December 6th, for five offshore wind lease areas off California.
In the news
- BOEM releases Final Sale Notice for California Offshore wind leases. Auction to be held December 6, 2022, for five leases in the Morro and Humboldt Wind Energy Areas.
- NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the release of a draft joint strategy to protect and promote the recovery of North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy.
- BOEM Encourages Nominations for NewNational Academies Committeefor Offshore Wind Energy and Fisheries.
- ‘Historic’ day for Humboldt County offshore wind project. A new heavy lift marine terminal to be developed on a 180-acre site on the Samoa Peninsula will be the second-largest in the United States once completed and will help with the manufacturing, installation and operation of the offshore wind platforms: https://www.times-standard.com/2022/10/27/historic-day-for-humboldt-county-offshore-wind-project/
- BOEM is seeking public comment on two proposed guidelines that clarify the requirements that offshore wind lessees must include in Construction and Operation Plans before the agency will begin its formal environmental and technical reviews. Comments are due 12 December 2022.
- The U.S. DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office has issued a notice of intent to release a $28 million funding opportunity, “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law FOA to Address Key Deployment Challenges for Offshore, Land-Based, and Distributed Wind”, in November 2022 to support social science research and community engagement for offshore wind development, as well as bat behavioral research, technology development, and field testing to advance deterrents.
- Socio-economic, legal, and political context of offshore renewable energies– Salvador and Ribeiro 2022
- Public dialogue as a collaborative planning process for offshore wind energy projects: Implications from a text analysis of a South Korean case – Park et al. 2022
- Reef effect of offshore structures on the occurrence and foraging activity of harbour porpoises – Fernandez-Betelu et al. 2022
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces First-Ever Offshore Wind Lease Sale in the Pacific – U.S. Department of Interior
- WWF and Ørsted in new global partnership to unite action on climate and ocean biodiversity
- Chinese City Plans 43.3 GW Offshore Wind Development, Green Hydrogen Production
- Launch of the European project Aquawind for offshore wind energy and aquaculture coordinated by the ACIISI
- 100-Meter, Land-Based Wind Resource Maps Now Available for All Contiguous States and Hawaii
- Below-Water Offshore Wind Energy Technology Webinar Recording
- New Tool Documents Available Technologies for Monitoring and Mitigating Effects of Wind Energy Development. With support from WETO, the International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme’s Task 34, Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy.
- NOAA and BOEM announce draft offshore wind, North Atlantic right whale strategy and request for comments
- Biden-Harris Administration announces new actions to expand U.S. offshore wind energy.
- National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium Announces New Projects Selected for Funding | Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Energy announces Floating Offshore Wind Shot. https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/floating-offshore-wind-shot
- BOEM Announces Working with NOAA’s NCCOS on Spatial Modeling for OR Call Areas and other sites – 9/16 – BOEM and NOAA recently collaborated to use the NCCOS tool to identify draft WEAs in the Gulf of Mexico. On 9/13 the PFMC received an overview of the model from James Morris, NCCOS (slides here).
- New Oregon Department of Energy Report Outlines Benefits and Challenges to Floating Offshore Wind Off Oregon’s Coast
- Offshore Wind Energy Development off the California Coast: Maximum Feasible Capacity and Megawatt Planning Goals for 2030 and 2045, California Energy Commission, Updated Commission Report, Gov. Gavin Newsom, August 2022
News & updates
- Ad Hoc Marine Planning Committee to hold online meeting February 23, 2023
- Ad Hoc Marine Planning Committee to hold online meeting February 2, 2023
- CANCELLED – Ad Hoc Marine Planning Committee to hold online meeting December 1, 2022
- Space is still available – Marine Resource Education Program workshop series (2022-2023)
Meeting Recordings
Previous Council Meeting
November Council meeting
Orange County, CA
Hyatt Regency Orange County 11999 Harbor Blvd. Garden Grove, CA 92840 Phone: 714-750-1234
Upcoming Council Meeting
March Council meeting
Seattle, WA
DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport 18740 International Blvd. Seattle, WA 98188 Phone: 206-246-8600
Events
Contacts
Kerry Griffin
503-820-2409
kerry.griffin@noaa.gov