AWEA: U.S. offshore wind poised for exponential growth

According to the U.S. Offshore Wind Power Economic Impact Assessment, released March 11 by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA, Washington D.C., U.S.), the U.S. offshore wind industry is set to deliver significant economic benefits over the next decade. 

Market projections anticipate 20,000-30,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity will be operational by 2030, representing up to $57 billion of investment in the U.S. economy. AWEA’s report estimates that developing this amount of offshore wind will support up to 45,000 jobs by 2025 and 83,000 jobs by 2030, depending on the level of offshore wind build and supply chain growth within the U.S. In addition, the development, construction and operation of offshore wind projects in the U.S. will deliver annual economic output totaling as much as $14 billion in 2025 and $25 billion in 2030, AWEA says.

“Offshore wind is key to the future of clean energy development in the U.S. and will add to a thriving wind power industry that already represents the largest source of renewable energy in the country,” says Tom Kiernan, AWEA CEO.

States along the East Coast are driving demand for offshore wind, the report says. Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Virginia have targets to procure a total of 25,400 megawatts of offshore wind before 2035. 
 
“State leaders are seeing the environmental and economic promise of offshore wind and are stepping in to provide the vision and policies to help this industry quickly achieve scale,” Kiernan says. “Offshore wind, following on the rapid proliferation of land-based wind over the past decade, is positioned to achieve significant growth and deliver jobs and economic output along the East Coast and throughout the rest of the country.”

As noted in the report, the land-based wind industry grew from supporting 100 domestic manufacturing facilities and 50,000 jobs in 2007 to more than 500 facilities and 114,000 jobs today. Last year, land-based wind power reached more than 100 gigawatts of operating capacity, a four-fold increase from 2008. AWEA says that offshore wind is set for a similarly rapid expansion, creating new opportunities for port revitalization and vessel construction. Project developers and manufacturers have already announced more than $1.3 billion of planned investments in port infrastructure, manufacturing facilities and supply chain development to support offshore wind.