Offshore Wind California coalition adds new member

French company Naval Energies has joined the Offshore Wind California coalition, which gathers offshore wind developers and technology companies supporting a goal of 10 GW of installed offshore wind capacity in California by 2040.

“We look forward to working with the Naval Energies team as we advance policies for the responsible development of offshore wind in California”, said Adam Stern, executive director of Offshore Wind California.

The coalition was founded in October 2019 by Equinor, Ørsted, Northland Power, Principle Power, Aker Solutions, Magellan Wind and Mainstream Renewable Power, as well as the non-profit Pacific Ocean Energy Trust. Since then, Avangrid Renewables and Smultea Sciences have also joined Offshore Wind California (OWC).

Naval Energies, the developer of a semi-submersible floating wind foundation planned to be deployed at a pilot wind farm in France, is supporting the coalition’s focus on floating wind technology, as California is said to be most suitable for floating wind technology.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates the state’s technical capacity to be 112 GW.

In a 2016 report, NREL stated that 16 GW of offshore wind projects built by 2050 could support nearly 6,000 long-term California operations-phase jobs, or nearly 3,000 jobs in case 10 GW is developed.

Cumulative GDP impacts were estimated by NREL to be USD 39.7 billion and USD 16.2 billion for the construction phases, and USD 7.9 billion and USD 3.5 billion in the operations phases for the 16 GW and the 10 GW scenario, respectively.

In 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) identified three offshore wind areas off California. The federal and state authorities are working to reach agreement on the specific waters appropriate for leasing, according to Naval Energies.