A new report outlines steps that could pave the way for a robust offshore wind industry on the West Coast, where there’s limited infrastructure to support it. 

Key actions suggested in Oceantic Network’s “Suppliers’ Guide to Success” include making investments in port and transmission infrastructure, structuring offtake awards to emphasize deliverability and following a steady, long-term procurement schedule. 

Oregon and particularly California have ambitious goals for this emissions-free source of power generation, but they will not be in the forefront of U.S. offshore wind construction because their projects will rely on floating wind turbine technology that still is being developed and tested. 

The report provides a chance for the West Coast to analyze the mixed record of first-wave offshore wind development on the East Coast and work to avoid pitfalls when development begins in earnest off the California and Oregon coasts, Oceantic said. 

The trade organization’s West Coast Supplier Council assisted with production of the report. 

It leads off by laying out some of the challenges — floating wind turbines have been installed only at smaller scale, and never at the depths present along parts of the U.S. West Coast.  

So, while early East Coast projects can turn to foreign suppliers and foreign expertise for their bottom-fixed turbines, that option is less promising for floating wind. 

Further, the report states, the near-to-midterm market potential for offshore wind on the West Coast is less than on the East Coast, where statutory goals are higher. 

Building a West Coast offshore wind industry requires a financially sustainable and scalable supply chain that can produce results at the right time and cost. A predictable and steady pipeline is essential to attracting the investment needed to make this happen. 

“We cannot repeat the experience of the East Coast, where a focus on least-cost offshore wind procurement yielded projects with business cases that were not resilient to macroeconomic change, [were] often delayed and, ultimately, proved to be undeliverable,” the authors write. 

They proceed to lay out problems and suggest solutions: 

Infrastructure Investment

The West Coast has a severe shortage of ports and transmission, the biggest hurdle to creating a viable floating wind industry.

A massive buildout of both is required, and it needs to start as soon as possible due to the long timelines to completion.  

The California Energy Commission’s analysis in its strategic plan of port functions to support offshore wind is a great first step, and the state needs to create a funding strategy for the Port of Humboldt and Port of Long Beach. The effort should be state-led and federally supported, with guidance from the offshore wind industry. 

CAISO’s draft 2023/24 Transmission Plan, which included a proposal to bring at least 1.6 GW of offshore wind power onto the grid in the North Coast, was a tremendous first step, but substantial further investment will be needed in that region. Reserving existing capacity for offshore wind in the Central Coast could reduce the major transmission investment that otherwise would be needed there. 

Offtake Award Criteria

Offshore wind offtake contracts should prioritize quality, timeliness and capacity rather than unrealistic price targets. 

Inflexible prices and a confluence of other factors resulted in the recent cancellation of 13.2 GW of offshore wind contracts on the East Coast, causing damaging ripple effects that still are manifesting across the nascent supply chain.  

The West Coast can learn from this, but it may encounter new hurdles because of the differences between new floating technology and relatively mature bottom-fixed technology. 

It should be recognized that initial projects will reflect the higher cost of establishing an ecosystem, and that their success will reduce the cost of subsequent projects. 

Bids submitted to state solicitations should be evaluated not just for price tags, but also for supply chain and infrastructure readiness, experience and credibility, and technology maturity. 

Procurement and Production

West Coast states should set up markets to encourage development of a local supply chain rather than simply specifying local content requirements. 

This is accomplished by the firm promise of a long and steady pipeline of work, which improves return on investment, provides a clear line of sight for workforce development needs and allows for more stable pricing. 

(The desire for clear market signals was aired this month at the Pacific Offshore Wind Summit in Sacramento, during which developers called on California to set an interim goal of 10 GW installed by 2035 on the way to its existing goal of 25 GW by 2045. See Developers Urge New Target for Pacific Offshore Wind.) 

Policymakers should focus supply chain development in sectors where the West Coast could have a competitive advantage in attracting new investment, rather than on components that are readily available on the world market. 

Global supply chains already exist for blades, nacelles, towers and cables, for example. The West Coast could do better by targeting components and processes specific to floating wind for which there is not yet a robust supply chain, such as floating platform assembly and turbine integration, vessel construction or retrofitting, and manufacture of mooring systems. 

Finally, Pacific states should coordinate and collaborate regionally to use their existing industrial strengths.