Special Initiative on Offshore Wind Articles

In this report, the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW) projects the cost of electricity from offshore wind and compares that cost with the cost of traditional power sources. The report further assesses the health and carbon costs of offshore wind in comparison to those traditional power sources. In the report, SIOW also provides tailored guidance and options for Delaware if it decides to initiate an offshore wind procurement process and calculates the electricity price impacts of those options.

Full Report: Offshore Wind Procurement Options for Delaware

Spreadsheets: Cost-Spreadsheets

The U.S. offshore wind industry is moving aggressively toward the national goal of building 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030 and is presenting a $109 billion TOTEX or total investment opportunity to businesses in the offshore wind power supply chain over the next decade. In this updated and expanded 2021 Supply Chain Forecast, the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW) quantifies the extensive supply chain business opportunities presented by this $109 billion TOTEX from the development, construction, and operational phases with quantification broken down by offshore wind farm component, state, and year through 2030. This updated analysis also includes a calculation of development and operational expenditures, highlighting the extensive job and revenue opportunities associated with this rapidly growing industry.

Full Report: Supply Chain Contracting Forecast 2021 Edition

Offshore wind promises to supply large amounts of clean energy to America’s largest cities and coastal regions while launching tens of thousands of new careers and generating new investments in coastal infrastructure. Even so, all infrastructure development has unintended impacts, and members of other ocean industries and coastal communities have made it clear they want a say in the offshore wind development process. Those opportunities exist, but the process is sometimes opaque.

To that end, SIOW and AWEA partnered to produce a new guide designed to highlight public participation opportunities in the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (housed within the U.S. Department of the Interior) regulatory process that governs leasing of areas on the Outer Continental Shelf for renewable energy development.

In addition, SIOW developed three state-based guides to help deliver a clearer picture of the offshore wind regulatory processes in three different states. These new Offshore Wind Public Participation guides describe how the public has shaped offshore wind siting and planning in all three states and how they can participate moving forward.

Full Guide: Offshore Wind Public Participation Guide
Federal (BOEM) Guide
Massachusetts Guide
Rhode Island Guide
New Jersey Guide