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 a fantastic and interesting dialogue of the US offshore wind business, what it’s been going by way of within the paste decade or extra, the place it stands now, and what must be finished to progress it in coming years. The podcast dialogue enhances our earlier one with Susan Muller, a Senior Power Analyst with the Union of Involved Scientists (UCS), concerning the US offshore wind market and the advantages of offshore wind energy.

Give the dialogue a pay attention! You may take heed to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Overcast, Pocket, Podbean, Radio Public, or by way of the embedded YouTube or SoundCloud participant under.

“Proper now, the Trump administration is making an attempt to extend the manufacturing of methane fuel and different fossil fuels whereas dismantling clear vitality sources — a technique which may be good for the fossil gasoline business, however fails to deal with the actual challenges going through America’s vitality 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 international market, applied sciences like offshore wind may also help maintain vitality costs steady and help American vitality independence. Finally, offshore wind is a chance to construct up American vitality infrastructure, increase our energy provide, maintain vitality costs below management, create high-quality jobs and drive billions in funding, all whereas combating local weather change. These are actual, vital alternatives; it might 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 vitality 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 business in danger, together with greater than 400,000 clear vitality jobs nationwide. The present administration’s vitality insurance policies have already stalled or led to the losses of over 40,000 jobs, together with over 11,000 within the wind business.

That’s not together with the latest and unfair cleaving of over 4,000 federal workers, 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 era and with it a discount in public well being harms from airborne particulate matter and a discount on shopper electrical energy and fuel payments.

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

Offshore wind and different clear vitality investments strengthen American manufacturing and make our electrical energy extra impartial 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 era capability like methane fuel is required.

On high of all its benefits for the vitality system, extra offshore wind would additionally convey plenty of different advantages to our communities. The offshore wind business is already driving billions of {dollars} in investments within the U.S., supporting high-quality jobs in every thing from manufacturing and development to ship-building, and helps cut back air air pollution and battle local weather change in addition.

There are robust tailwinds in relation to the buyer and policymaker perspective on the expertise.

• 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 vitality capability—a 3rd greater than the prior 12 months—with 40 GW of on- and offshore wind vitality within the pipeline.
• Reliability: New demand is anticipated, and a fantastic mismatch between how rapidly new electrical energy hundreds (similar to factories or knowledge facilities) might be related to the grid, and the longer timelines required for including new energy era and transmission traces to serve that load. The offshore wind business has matured over the previous few Presidential administrations, and the excellent news is that the expertise might be swiftly deployed in these websites which are permitted and permitted, to satisfy this monumental want.

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