US East Coast Offshore Wind Commitments Top 8GW

The US East Coast states have committed to developing over 8GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

The commitment to have over 8GW of operating offshore wind capacity is expected to create almost 40,000 full-time jobs by 2028, according to a new study U.S. Job Creation in Offshore Wind.

Co-authored by New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the Clean Energy States Alliance, the study has also found that 86GW by 2050 would support 160,000 US jobs.

New Jersey leads the pack with the 3.5GW offshore wind target by 2030, followed by New York’s 2.4GW commitment.

Massachusetts has a goal of adding 1.6GW of offshore wind capacity, with Maryland committing to two projects with a combined capacity of some 368MW.

Connecticut’s recently issued Request for Proposals (RfP) pushed the overall offshore wind target on the US East Coast over the 8GW mark.

The US East Coast is home to the nation’s only operating offshore wind farm, the 30MW Block Island in Rhode Island, developed by Deepwater Wind.