With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains $370 billion for climate and energy programs, policy experts are forecasting a big expansion in clean electricity generation. One source that’s poised for growth is offshore wind power.
Today, the U.S. has two operating offshore wind farms, off Rhode Island and North Carolina, with a combined generating capacity of 42 megawatts. For comparison, the new Traverse Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma has 356 turbines and a 998-megawatt generating capacity. But many more projects are in development, mostly along the Atlantic coast.
The Biden administration has identified two zones for offshore wind power development in the Gulf of Mexico, which up until now has been firmly identified with oil and gas production. As part of his climate strategy, President Joe Biden has set a goal for the deployment of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind generating capacity by 2030 – enough to power 10 million homes.
In our view, offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico presents a unique opportunity for a geographic region with a strong energy workforce and infrastructure to help meet society’s need for reliable low-carbon energy.
Wind power on land has seen remarkable growth in the U.S. over the last 15 years. Wind power’s comparative ease of permitting and siting, affordable installation costs, abundant resources, free fuel and low marginal operating costs have reduced electricity costs for consumers. And wind power avoids significant amounts of air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and water demand for cooling.
But onshore wind has downsides. Winds often are weakest in the hottest hours of summer, when air conditioners are working hard. And many of the best wind energy zones are far from electricity demand centers.
Solar power and batteries can solve some of these problems. But generating wind offshore also offers many benefits.
More than half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coast, so offshore wind sites are close to electricity demand centers. This is especially true in the Gulf of Mexico. Power companies can use subsea cables to bring wind energy to industrial facilities, instead of building hundreds of miles of overhead wires.
The offshore wind market is already robust globally, but until now has been practically nonexistent in the U.S. Abundant land here has spurred the growth of onshore wind, but inhibited a rush to the water.
That’s changing with tighter setback rules in leading wind states such as Iowa that limit how close to homes turbines can be placed, which are driving up construction costs and limiting the availability of acceptable sites. Transmission capacity limits on the U.S. power grid are also making it harder to move wind-generated electrons to market.
Thanks to these development trends, plus measures in the climate bill that increase support for offshore wind, it looks as though the U.S. offshore wind industry is finally ready for prime time. We see the Gulf of Mexico as an especially attractive place to do business. The Gulf’s shallower water depths, warmer temperatures and calmer waves are relatively easy to manage. Water depths up to 160 feet – currently the maximum depth for fixed-bottom wind turbines – extend nearly 90 miles off the coasts of southeast Texas and southern Louisiana, compared with only about 40 miles off Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in the Northeast.
The Gulf’s seafloor topography features a more even and gentle slope than areas already under consideration for development off the coast of Virginia. This means that fixed-bottom wind turbines can be used in more places.
Importantly, the Gulf Coast has a robust offshore industry that was established to serve oil and gas producers, with many specialized companies offering services such as underwater welding, platform manufacturing, and helicopter and boat services to get people and equipment to sea.
Wind farms in the Gulf can leverage existing infrastructure. There are nearly 1,200 miles of existing subsea power cables that could transfer wind energy to shore.
Wind power development in the Gulf also offers an opportunity for a smooth labor transition as the U.S. gradually reduces its reliance on fossil fuels.
Permitting for energy projects is notoriously slow at the federal level, and wind energy projects in federal waters may require multiyear lead times. But projects in state waters – extending up to 3 nautical miles from shore in most areas, and 9 miles from shore in Texas – could proceed more rapidly.
Much depends on whether energy states such as Texas and Louisiana see opportunities to extend their reputations as energy leaders into offshore wind. As we see it, an offshore wind boom in the Gulf would be good for the region, the nation and the world’s climate.
Michael E. Webber is a professor of energy resources and Hugh Daigle is an an associate professor of petroleum and geosystems engineering, both at the University of Texas at Austin. Distributed by The Associated Press.
