Offshore Wind Growing Fast in California

The rapid growth of offshore wind projects in California is prompting concern from some residents and environmental groups leery of the potential of massive wind farms to transform the coastal environment in unpredictable ways.

As Julie Cart explains in an article for CALmatters, “The state’s blueprint envisions offshore wind farms producing 25 gigawatts of electricity by 2045, powering 25 million homes and providing about 13% of the power supply.” Last year, the federal government auctioned off 583 square miles off the Northern and Central California coast for wind leases.

“The projects will be a giant experiment: No other floating wind operations are in such deep waters.” Additionally, “Each of the wind farms off Humboldt and Morro Bay will require an extensive network of offshore and onshore development, including miles of undersea transmission lines, expanded ports, new or upgraded onshore substations and electrical distribution networks.”

Potential risks include the overindustrialization of coastal areas, the disruption of migrating sea life and birds, and excessively high maintenance costs. The California Coastal Commission, one of the agencies responsible for permitting, acknowledges the timeline is somewhat rushed, but claims that “through ‘adaptive management’ — the ability to adjust policies and requirements as conditions change — detrimental effects can be avoided or mitigated.”