West Coast Offshore Wind Takes a Step Forward

California’s offshore wind industry got a boost Tuesday when the Department of Interior announced a DEcember 6 lease sale for areas identified as appropriate for offshore wind energy production along the state’s central and northern coasts. Ella Nilsen, reporting for CNN, notes that “The space that will be offered is more than 373,000 acres, which Interior said could produce over 4.5 gigawatts of energy when fully developed – enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.”

According to the article, “The lease sale will be closely watched not only for its energy potential but also for its revenue; a similar lease sale off the coast of New York and New Jersey in February grossed $4.37 billion, setting a record for the highest ever offshore energy lease sale, both for wind and oil and gas.”

The deeper sea floor off the California coast poses more challenges than sites in the Atlantic, requiring floating turbines that can be anchored. “Other future floating offshore wind developments and lease sales are being planned off the coasts of Oregon and the Gulf of Maine, though the dates of those lease sales have not been set.”