Offshore Wind – Fishermens News

Commercial Fishermen Have Questions, Concerns About West Coast Offshore Wind

Although offshore wind projects are common along the East Coast, the West Coast has yet to see any turbines dot the horizon. That’s likely to change in the coming years, however, as the waters have been opened up in California by the federal government. Plans for floating systems are in the works, as well as land-side support facilities. Although the process is moving forward, fishermen still have concerns, and more questions than answers. In 2021, several federal departments announced a shared goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy in the U.S. by 2030. And in 2022, President Biden followed that up with another objective: 15 GW of floating offshore wind (OSW) energy by 2035. The first offshore wind lease sale in the Pacific Ocean took place in December 2022. It was a...

Offshore Wind’s Risks, Opportunities Explored in New Report

Offshore Wind (OSW) is a rapidly growing industry and a heightened policy focus under the Biden administration, which is pushing development of OSW around the country, including several planned West Coast projects. Offshore wind is also big issue for the commercial fishing industry, and has been making commercial fishermen anxious for a number or reasons, due to unanswered questions such as how floating wind turbines could affect California’s marine life (including noise from building and running wind farms), as well as whether electromagnetic fields could harm Pacific Coast salmon and other fish stocks. Now, a new report from a global insurer that examines the opportunities and risks of OSW highlights some new concerns with these projects, as well as the developing infrastructure and ...

Offshore Wind Update: Developments in Oregon, Washington

Two years ago, the Biden administration announced that the West Coast would be open to offshore wind (OSW) development for the first time, starting with areas along the northern and central coasts of California, as part of the administration’s larger efforts to create 30 gigawatts of domestic offshore wind by 2030. Now the government’s offshore wind efforts are moving farther up the West Coast. Last spring, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lead agency handling the offshore wind development process, announced possible leasing off the Oregon coast, in the proposed Coos Bay Call Area (872,854 acres) and the Brookings Call Area (about 286,444 acres). Washington state isn’t far behind. While BOEM hasn’t announced any call areas in the Evergreen State, there’s been at least...

Offshore Wind Update 2022

A lot has happened since the Biden administration in May 2021 announced that California’s northern and central coasts would be open to offshore wind development, identifying two areas in particular: Morro Bay and Humboldt Call. The idea was to pursue the development of floating offshore wind platforms off the California coast as part of the Biden administration’s overall goal of generating 30 gigawatts of domestic offshore wind by 2030. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the lead agency on offshore wind. This past May, the department announced offshore wind lease sales for the first time on the West Coast. The Proposed Sale Notice, published May 31 in the Federal Register, includes three proposed lease areas in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area i...