WASHINGTON: Significant investment will be needed in port infrastructure on the US Pacific coast to facilitate the development of an offshore floating wind industry, according to a new report from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
The report – Determining the Infrastructure Needs to Support Offshore Floating Wind and MHK facilities on the Pacific West Coast – said port infrastructure is good, but there is “no single port facility that currently has the infrastructure that would allow full fabrication, construction and assembly” of offshore wind technology. Therefore, development of the industry will “most likely rely on a network of ports”. It added that rail, road and navigation access to west coast ports and the availability of workforce is “relatively good” for the development of a commercial-scale offshore wind project.
But investment would still be needed in new wharf and upland infrastructure, BOEM said. Other considerations that could hamper offshore wind development are height restrictions on marine traffic and water depths in some areas, such as northern California and Oregon, the report said. The areas with the most potential are Washington and southern California because of the large manufacturing bases, deep draft navigation channels and no regional height restrictions. Ports in Hawaii have limited space for long-term staging, storage or manufacturing that “likely precludes the capability to support” commercial-scale offshore wind or marine energy.
