US offshore wind gathers pace

On July 29, Oceantic Network member company US Wind was handed final environmental approval for its Maryland project, which will see 114 wind turbines, each with 15MW generating capacity, to make a total of 1.8GW for the site.

Part of the project by US Wind will see a turbine foundation facility built in Baltimore Harbor, bringing the materials in-house as opposed to sourcing them overseas.

The Oceantic Network, an organisation that promotes offshore wind, says it is the 10^th environmental review to have been completed by the Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM), and the pipeline of approved projects now exceeds 15GW, with more than 5GW under installation and 300MW operational.

Gulf of Mexico & Louisiana

Oceantic also said last week that the BOEM was advancing a new project in the Gulf of Mexico, where Hecate Energy has applied to lease two areas off the Texas coast for development.

“The Gulf of Mexico offshore wind market is moving forward with key policies falling into place,” says Oceantic.

Oceantic says it has reported on the regional supply chain capabilities and businesses already at work, and that the Gulf of Mexico is heavily involved in the build-out.

“Oceantic closely tracks supply chain contracts and has found 23% of the 1,500 US contracts are going to Gulf-based firms,” it says. This amounts to $1.3 billion in vessel orders and retrofits, and is ‘flowing to Gulf shipyards from Texas to Florida’.

“The state of Louisiana has also begun to state Offshore Wind Roadmap process that will identify key actions the state can take to support development,” the Oceantic Network says.