California county rolls up sleeves on floating offshore wind workforce and supply chain development

The Board of Supervisors of Humboldt County, California, has approved several motions related to the upcoming development of floating wind farms off the county’s coast, including executing a grant agreement with the State to support developing a local skilled workforce and supply chain.

In December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed the lease sale for offshore wind acreage in California, marking the first time the U.S. organised an offshore wind lease sale on the Pacific coast and the first time the country procured floating wind capacity.

The auction saw RWE, Equinor, Invenergy, California North Floating (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners), and Central California Offshore Wind (Ocean Winds) securing lease rights for the five areas that BOEM offered, two in Humboldt Bay and three in Morro Bay.

The lease areas in Humboldt Bay were awarded to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and RWE.

BOEM has estimated the installed offshore wind capacity of the two areas to be 769 MW (RWE’s lease area) and 838 MW (CIP’s lease area). However, the developers announced shortly after being declared auction winners that they could install up to 1.6 GW (RWE) and over 1 GW (CIP) of floating wind generation capacity at their lease areas.

With more than 2 GW of floating wind coming up in the near future, the Humboldt County administration has started preparing to take advantage of the emerging industry to benefit its economy.

On 14 March, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approved recommendations on offshore wind activities put forward by the County Administrative Office.

The Board has authorised the County Administrative Officer (CAO) to execute a grant agreement with the State of California Employment Development Division (EDD) for €851,500 to fund the first phase of the county’s Offshore Wind Supply Chain and Worker Readiness Program.

The first phase involves activities related to the analysis and development of the workforce and the supply chain, as well as the analysis and road mapping of stakeholders. The funds will also cover activities related to business, worker, and staff readiness and education, legal support services, and civic outreach and engagement.

The Board has also approved several other actions related to offshore wind activities.

One of these includes establishing two separate Board ad hoc committees to work with staff and community stakeholders, one focused on offshore wind workforce and supply chain development and the other on offshore wind legislation, infrastructure development, stakeholder engagement, and community benefits.

Furthermore, the County Administrative Office has also moved to sign an agreement with the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District, and the City of Eureka to collaborate on port and wind development activities. Here, the Board also authorised the County Administrative Office to execute agreements such as Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Common Interest Agreements, and similar agreements with local governments and Tribal nations.

Among the now authorised actions is also a recommendation for the County of Humboldt’s Workforce Development Board, the Humboldt Workforce Coalition (CalPoly Humboldt, College of the Redwoods, Humboldt County Office of Education), and AJCC (American Job Centers of California) to engage in discussions with wind developers to explore the braiding of resources, funding, and community interests needed to develop an agreement on workforce and supply chain that would benefit the community.

Shortly before the first offshore wind lease sale in California, the Board of Supervisors of Humboldt County adopted Resolution 22-140, which sets out the county’s proactive efforts to ensure that offshore wind development occurs in a sustainable manner, maximises environmental and economic benefits to the region, and minimises or mitigates unavoidable impacts. 

The offshore wind actions that were now approved build upon that resolution.

According to the document from the Board’s meeting held on 14 March, California maintains a vision of becoming carbon neutral by 2045. 

The U.S. state last year adopted an offshore wind target of 2-5 GW by 2030, with an aim of having up to 25 GW installed by 2045.