New Science Plan Outlines Research Priorities on Effects of Offshore Wind Development Along the West Coast

Offshore wind energy may represent the most significant new commercial use of the ocean seen in many decades. As new offshore wind technology emerges off the U.S. West Coast, NOAA Fisheries has developed a strategic science plan identifying both opportunities and challenges for advancing the agency’s research and understanding of offshore wind in the region.

The West Coast Offshore Wind Energy Strategic Science Plan outlines research needs for NOAA Fisheries to gauge the effects of wind turbines that could one day float off the West Coast, where current leases exist and future lease sales are planned. Ocean depths off the West Coast require developers to pioneer wind technology using floating platforms that have not yet been employed on a large commercial scale. The industry envisions new port facilities in Long Beach and Humboldt Bay to construct the large turbines, and new transmission lines to feed the new power into the region’s electric grid.

“Offshore wind is an important tool and technology to help reduce greenhouse emissions,” said Jennifer Quan, Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “And we need to be prepared with sound science to help inform decisions affecting the marine species and the commercial and recreational fisheries that we manage as well as other important uses of the marine ecosystem.”

NOAA Fisheries works in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of responsibly deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 while protecting biodiversity and other uses of the ocean, and specifically deploying 15 gigawatts of floating offshore by 2035. Standing up this new energy sector represents investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and jobs. All offshore wind energy development in the United States so far has occurred off the East Coast.