America’s Offshore Wind Industry Is Growing Despite Trump’s Crackdown

Resumen detallado

Major U.S. offshore wind projects are reaching commercial operation despite Trump administration restrictions that have dramatically reduced expectations for future industry growth.

Felicity Bradstock is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City. She writes for energy websites and covers several other industries, as well as writing…

The United States was slow to embrace offshore wind, with its first small-scale commercial wind farm coming online in 2016. It would take another eight years before the country launched its first utility-scale offshore wind project in 2024. While many other countries around the globe were rapidly developing offshore wind projects as part of energy diversification strategies, the United States mainly pursued solar photovoltaics and onshore wind projects.

The United States has significant potential to develop its offshore wind capacity, but it has only just begun to construct commercial offshore wind projects. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the United States has over 4,000 GW of technical resource potential, or 13,500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of generation per year in federal waters and the Great Lakes. While it is not possible to fully realise the potential, tapping even a small share of offshore wind could help the U.S. reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and support a green transition.

In recent decades, the DOE has invested in offshore wind research and development to better understand the energy source’s potential and attract private investment in the sector. The DOE has earmarked over $300 million for offshore wind research, development, and demonstration projects. Nevertheless, the strict bureaucratic processes associated with offshore wind development have stalled permitting in the past, partially explaining why so many other countries raced ahead of the U.S. in capacity development.

The 30-MW Block Island Wind Farm, the first major offshore wind farm to be developed in the United States, came online in 2016. The $300-million, five-turbine wind farm was developed by Deepwater Wind.

Growing the country’s portfolio from 30 MW to 30 GW in around a decade would be no easy feat; however, under the…

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