Challenges & Alternatives in US Offshore Wind Market

I just lately sat down with Kris Ohleth, Director of the Particular Initiative on Offshore Wind, to debate the challenges, alternatives, and progress within the US offshore wind market. It was an excellent and interesting dialogue of the US offshore wind trade, what it’s been going by means of within the paste decade or extra, the place it stands now, and what must be performed to progress it in coming years. The podcast dialogue enhances our earlier one with Susan Muller, a Senior Vitality Analyst with the Union of Involved Scientists (UCS), relating to the US offshore wind market and the advantages of offshore wind energy.

Give the dialogue a hear! You possibly can take heed to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Overcast, Pocket, Podbean, Radio Public, or through the embedded YouTube or SoundCloud participant under.

“Proper now, the Trump administration is attempting to extend the manufacturing of methane gasoline and different fossil fuels whereas dismantling clear power sources — a technique that could be good for the fossil gasoline trade, however fails to handle the true challenges dealing with America’s power system,” Kris and her crew wrote when reaching out for the podcast. “Whereas heavy dependence on fossil fuels exposes shoppers to cost spikes from a risky world market, applied sciences like offshore wind may also help hold power costs steady and help American power independence. In the end, offshore wind is a chance to construct up American power infrastructure, enhance our energy provide, hold power costs beneath management, create high-quality jobs and drive billions in funding, all whereas combating local weather change. These are actual, necessary alternatives; it will be a mistake to waste them.”

Certainly. All true. Sadly, the US wind energy market, particularly the offshore wind energy market, is on edge proper now with the very anti–clear power Trump White Home in energy. Right here’s extra from Kris and crew on these issues:

Job safety/financial impacts

Federal uncertainty and meddling locations tens of hundreds of jobs within the wind trade in danger, together with greater than 400,000 clear power jobs nationwide. The present administration’s power insurance policies have already stalled or led to the losses of over 40,000 jobs, together with over 11,000 within the wind trade.

That’s not together with the latest and unfair cleaving of over 4,000 federal staff, together with round 800 at NOAA, who’ve been devoted to the thorough evaluate of offshore wind deployment and wildlife safety. We already know offshore wind will harness utility-scale, zero-carbon, homegrown technology and with it a discount in public well being harms from airborne particulate matter and a discount on client electrical energy and gasoline payments.

Renewables made up over 90% of recent assets added to the grid final 12 months. With power demand projected to rise nationwide, stifling renewable deployment will worsen provide shortfalls whereas provide chain, infrastructure and transmission bottlenecks delay new fossil gasoline crops.

Offshore wind and different clear power investments strengthen American manufacturing and make our electrical energy extra unbiased and dependable. There are already almost 2,000 offshore wind provide chain contracts in place throughout 40 states.
Embracing OSW signifies that much less nonvariable, fossil gasoline technology capability like methane gasoline is required.

On prime of all its benefits for the power system, extra offshore wind would additionally deliver plenty of different advantages to our communities. The offshore wind trade is already driving billions of {dollars} in investments within the U.S., supporting high-quality jobs in all the things from manufacturing and building to ship-building, and helps scale back air air pollution and struggle local weather change in addition.

There are robust tailwinds relating to the patron and policymaker perspective on the know-how.

• Funding: An estimated $25 billion has been invested into the U.S. offshore wind ecosystem, together with in manufacturing, ports, vessels, and workforce improvement.
• Deployment: American Clear Energy evaluation (March 2025): the U.S. deployed 49 GW of unpolluted power capability—a 3rd greater than the prior 12 months—with 40 GW of on- and offshore wind power within the pipeline.
• Reliability: New demand is anticipated, and an excellent mismatch between how rapidly new electrical energy hundreds (akin to factories or information facilities) may be related to the grid, and the longer timelines required for including new energy technology and transmission traces to serve that load. The offshore wind trade has matured over the previous few Presidential administrations, and the excellent news is that the know-how may be swiftly deployed in these websites which can be permitted and accepted, to satisfy this huge want.

The offshore wind trade will push ahead. Keep tuned to keep watch over the way it progresses, and to not miss out on any large milestones within the burgeoning trade.