The Offshore Wind California coalition (OWC), urged California to aim towards reaching a minimum of 10GW of offshore wind by 2040, to provide jobs, generate growth and meet the state’s goal to 100% renewable power by 2045.
California is a large potential market for offshore wind due to its ambitious clean energy policies and economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.
The coalition supports that California is ideally located to become the next investment hot spot for the US offshore wind industry, which is taking off with more than 22GW in commitments by East Coast states and USD 70 billion in supply chain spending by 2030.
Sunny Gupta, Head of New Markets, Ørsted and Board Chair, OWC commented
California is committed to 100 percent power from renewable energy by 2045. Offshore wind is critical to reach this mark, and will create jobs and green growth. It’s an ideal complement to existing renewable resources, with steady and powerful winds that grow even stronger after sunset. We want California to seize its opportunity to be a leading offshore wind market − in the U.S. and across the Pacific Rim.
The founding members of this project include Equinor, Ørsted, Northland Power, Principle Power, Aker Solutions, Magellan Wind and Mainstream Renewable Power, as well as the nonprofit Pacific Ocean Energy Trust.
In September 2018, the State of California committed to achieving a 100% renewable energy target by the end of 2045.
There is growing commercial experience with floating-base applications that will unlock wind resources in deeper waters, such as those off the coast of California. That’s why offshore wind in the state could become part of the least-cost portfolio.
